


The Truth About Ollie

by Zenny01



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Arrow (TV 2012) Season 1
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2019-11-08 09:56:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 59,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17979167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zenny01/pseuds/Zenny01
Summary: In order to change the future, arrow characters are transported to the future to watch Oliver’s journey to becoming a hero.





	1. Pilot

**Author's Note:**

> This is heavily inspired by Changing Tides because that fic was awesome. Let me know what you guys think and if I should continue this. I really enjoyed writing it. I love comments and reviews! Thanks.

**Disclaimer: I do not own arrow or anything else that you read here in this fic. The transcripts aren't mine either.**

When Laurel woke up, she wasn’t entirely sure where she was. Her head ached and the world around her spun. Blinking her eyes open, she finally was able to pull herself into a sitting position and look around the room. On the floor across from her Thea and Tommy, as well as two other people she didn’t know lay sprawled across the floor. One of the strangers was the first one to come to. He shot up in an instant looking out at all the people. He wore a red hoodie and had dark brown hair. After that Thea began to wake, then Tommy, then everyone else.When everyone was finally awake, Laurel thought it was time to figure out what the hell was going on.

“Ummm where are we?” She said to no one in particular.

“I have no idea. Are you ok Laurel?” Tommy asked.

“Yeah I’m fine,” Laurel responded.

Suddenly, two doors at the end of the room opened and someone in a black suit came in. She had a black mask on and her hair was clearly a blonde wig. A bow staff was gripped tightly in her hands and several knives were hidden within her costume.

“Who the hell are you?” The boy in the red hoodie asked. 

“Hello Roy,” She said calmly. Her voice was mechanical. A voice modulator sat on her belt distorting her voice. 

“How do you know my name?”

“I know all of your names.” She responded simply, as if that would answer all of their questions. “I’m a member of the Justice League. You have all been brought here to change the future. To make things right. Your connection to the first hero is why you’ve been brought here. You all are special to him, either now or in the future.”

“And how exactly would you know that?” Thea asked confused.

“Because i’m from the future.”

“The future? That’s ridiculous.” Laurel scoffed. The woman in black smiled. 

“Follow me,” She said turning to walk out of the room.

“How do we know we can trust you?” Laurel asked disbelievingly. The woman in black stopped a couple feet from the door. The five captives heard her draw in a deep breath before pulling back the blond wig and taking off her mask. As she turned around everyone gasped. In front of them was an older version of Laurel. Her hair bounced on her shoulders. A couple gray streaks in the once chestnut color. She seemed older. More tired. Her eyes lacked the gleam that the present day version had. 

“How?” Tommy asked confused. The older Laurel gave a sad smile. 

“Just follow me ok?”

Everyone nodded and followed her out of the room. They went through a couple winding hallways before going into a small room. A projector hung over head and several couches and chairs were littered around the room.

“Wait, are we here to watch tv?” Thea asked confused.

“Sort of. Your going to watch the story of the very first hero. What you’ll be watching is the memories of everyone who watched it happen.”

“Ok. How does this work?” One of the strangers asked. The elder Laurel walked over to a small table and picked up a remote before handing it to him. 

“It works like a regular tv or move, except everything in this actually happened. I suppose you’d all like to know who each other are.” She said.

Everyone nodded.

“I’m John Diggle. But you guys can call me Dig if you like.” One of the strangers said.

“I’m Tommy.”

“Laurel”

“I’m Laurel.”

“Thea Queen”

They boy in the red hoodie scoffed.

“What was that for?” Thea demanded in offense.

“Nothing. Your highness,” He drawled.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“You don’t care about anything. You’re just a stuck up rich bitch.”

“Hey!” Tommy yelled walking over to where the boy was.

“Enough. You guys will behave understood?” The older Laurel said sternly. Everyone nodded. “Great. That’s Roy since he didn’t actually introduce himself. And to avoid confusion, you guys can call me Dinah. Now that that’s over you guys should start. If you need anything, just call out and someone will be with you as soon as possible.” she said motioning to Diggle who started the recording before she walked out of the room.

 

_ A figure runs through a forest breathing heavily as he went. He was jumping over fallen trees and other obstacles. As he reaches the edge of the forest, the figure can clearly be made out as a man, wearing a green hood.  _

 

“Wow he looks like he’s been there a while.” Tommy commented noticing how gruff he appeared. Everyone nodded taking in the sight of the man. 

_ He scrambles up a sheer rock cliff face and, as he comes to the top, the face finally comes into view.  _

“Ollie?” Laurel whispers as she takes in his appearance. She was somewhere between shocked, happy, and furious at the sight of her supposedly dead ex-lover. 

“It… it can’t be. That’s not possible. Ollie’s dead.” Thea stammered staring at the screen. Her brother was alive? Tommy meanwhile sat there in shock unable to say a word. 

 

_ Oliver peers over the top of the cliff to the bay, and spots a small fishing vessel. Quickly, he runs across the cliff and back into the woods, where supplies lay wrapped in a cloth. He takes out his bow, and an arrow with a tip covered in tar. Using a knife, he lights the arrow head on fire. He took a moment to aim. Then he let the arrow fly into a premade signal on the beach, which explodes into a ball of fire. _

 

“Cool,” Tommy says under his breath.    
“That takes a lot of training,” Diggle notes. “Was he able to do that before?”

“No.” Was all Laurel could say.

 

_ On the fishing boat, the two man crew notice the fireball and head towards shore to investigate. As they come onto the shore, they walk past a ragged looking mask on a post. It was half black and half orange, and an arrow was stuck through the right eye hole. "The name of the island they found me on is Lian Yu." Oliver’s voice said. "It's mandarin for purgatory. I've been stranded here for five years, I've dreamt of my rescue every cold black night since then. For five years, I have had only one thought, one goal: survive. Survive and one day return home." Oliver fell to his knees in front of the two fisherman and slowly let down his hood. His face was filthy, his hair and beard matted with dirt and grime. _

 

“Oh my god, Ollie,” Tommy said under his breath.

“How is it exactly that you guys know him?” Roy said boredly.

“He’s my brother,” Thea said quietly tears flowing down her cheeks. Tommy put an arm around her giving her a hug as the memory continued.

 

_ Now on the boat, Oliver sat on the deck. A blanket was draped over his shoulders. One of the fisherman brought him some tea to help warm him. "The island held many dangers. To live, I had to make myself more than what I was, to forge myself into a weapon. I am returning not the boy who was shipwrecked but the man who will bring justice to those who have poisoned my city. My name is Oliver Queen." _

 

Thea shivered at the thought of what her brother may have gone through on the island. As Laurel wondered what Oliver could possibly mean by ‘justice’. Roy rolled his eyes at the proclamation. Clearly this Oliver guy didn’t know what he was talking about.

 

_ "Oliver Queen is alive." the newscaster announced. "The Starling City resident was found by fishermen in the North China sea five days ago, five years after he was missing and was presumed dead following the accident at sea which claimed 'The Queen's Gambit.'" The screen changed from a picture of the boat to a video of a drunk Oliver. "Queen was a regular tabloid presence and a fixture at the Starling City club scene. Shortly before his disappearance, he was acquitted of assault charges stemming from a highly publicized drunken altercation with paparazzi." _

“And rightfully so!” Tommy yelled. Everyone looked at him in annoyance. “Sorry. Continue.” He said his cheeks flushing red.

 

_ "Queen is the son of Starling City billionaire Robert Queen, who was also on board but now officially confirmed as deceased."  _

 

Thea let out a sob. Up until now she had been holding out hope that her dad was also coming home. That he would walk in any second and things would go back to how they used to be. Tommy let a single tear fall from his face. He had spent a lot of time at the Queens’ and had thought of Robert as a father figure before he died. 

 

_ "20 percent of his body is covered in scar tissue. Second degree burns on his back and arms. X-rays show at least 12 fractures that never properly healed." Dr. Lamb was saying.  _

 

Thea only began to sob harder as she listened to the doctor describe her brother’s condition. Tommy closed his eyes in sympathy. He couldn’t even imagine what Oliver had gone through. Laurel felt the anger begin to replace with concern as she heard the injuries Oliver had sustained. Diggle shook his head. The last time he had heard of someone with that much scar tissue was when he’d been in the military.  

 

_ "Has he said anything about what happened?" Moira asked, looking into Oliver's room and watching him as he looked out at the city. Oliver looked better now that he had had a shower and a shave; his hair was also neatly trimmed. "No. He's barely said anything." Dr. Lamb Replied. "Moira, I'd like you to prepare yourself. The Oliver you lost might not be the one they found." Moira didn't respond. Instead, she entered the room, letting the door close quietly behind her. "Oliver." She said quietly. Oliver turned around slowly. "Mom." He finally said after a moment. Moira slowly walked towards him, and Oliver met her half way. "Oh My beautiful boy." She said tearfully as they hugged. _

 

“He seems…” Tommy began.

“Hollow.” Thea said sorrowfully watching her brother who had once been so full of life act so dully.

Laurel swallowed. She was holding onto her anger. Oliver had cheated on her with her sister and then she had died. But listening to what he’d been through and seeing him so void of life, she knew he didn’t deserve that.

 

_ Back on the screen, the Queen's Bentley pulled up to the front of the Queen mansion. Someone opened the car’s trunk to reveal a crate with Chinese writings and a padlock. The driver began to reach for it, but Oliver cut him off. "I've got it." He said quietly taking the case. Moira opened the doors and led her son inside. "Your room is exactly as you left it." She said, "I never had the heart to change a thing." Another man came on the screen. Oliver looked at him in confusion. "It's Walter," the man said, "Walter Steele." Moira tried to clarify. "You remember Walter, your father's friend from the company." She said, as if that would explain why he was at their house. _

 

“Your mom doesn’t tell him?” Tommy says looking over at Thea who was shaking her head at her mom’s foolishness.

“Am I missing something here?” Roy asked.

“Walter is my step-dad. My mom remarried three years after the gambit sank. Clearly she didn’t tell Oliver though.” Thea said.

“Oh,” Roy said. “Well that’ll go well.” Thea would have argued but couldn’t really find a reason to. He was right. 

 

_ Just then, a woman entered the foyer, and Oliver walked past Walter, completely ignoring him. Oliver walked up to the older woman in the maid's outfit and took her hands in his. "It's good to see you, Raisa." He said warmly. "Welcome home, Mr. Oliver." She replied in equal warmth. She looked over to Moira. "Mr. Merlyn phoned. He wants to join you for dinner." She stated in a russian accent. "Wonderful." Moira said but Oliver was distracted by the sound of a door slamming. He looked up towards the landing at the top of the stairs as his mother continued. "Oliver? Did you hear that?" he ignored her as he walked to the bottom of the stairs. "Hey, sis." Oliver said as Thea stood there staring at him before running down and jumping into her brothers arms. "I knew it." Thea was saying "I knew you were alive! I missed you so much." She said, hugging him. A smile was plastered on her face. "You were with me the whole time." He replied, a genuine smile on his face as well.  _

 

Everyone in the room smiled at the reunion.

 

_ Back on the screen, we are taken over the Glades into CNRI as Joanna was arguing with Laurel. "Come on, Laurel," she was saying, "We're lawyers, not miracle workers. We can't win this." "If we can't win a class action suit against a man who swindled hundreds of people out of their homes and life savings," Laurel replied, "then we're not fit to call ourselves a legal aid office." "And if we go bankrupt in the process, we won't be a legal aid office." Joanna shot back. "Hunt has an army of lawyers, and they're ready to bury us." "You and I against an army." Laurel said on screen. "I love those odds." "Why do you hate me?" Joanna groused as Laurel sat down at her desk.  _

 

“I’ve have been asking that question since we decided to have… ow!” Tommy said before Laurel elbowed him in the side. Her face was red with embarrassment. Unfortunately, everyone understood what Tommy had been about to say. 

_ She stared up at her board that laid out Adam Hunt and his 'alleged' criminal activities, searching for something concrete that she could sink her teeth into. As she was looking, a news report on one of the office TV's caught her attention. "And in other news, details as to the castaway story you've all heard about the son of a very wealthy billionaire will soon become a legendary story. Jessica now has more details and the complete castaway story. Jessica?" Laurel got up and walked over to the TV that her colleagues were all gathered around. _

 

“That is not going to end well,” Thea said and Laurel nodded in agreement.

 

_ "The Queen's Gambit' was last heard from more than five years ago. Mr. Queen has reportedly confirmed he was the only survivor of the accident that took the lives of seven people, including local resident Sara Lance. Survived by her sister, Laurel… " _

 

Laurel looked down as any hope she had of her sister being alive vanished. She had known Sara was most likely dead, but hearing it confirmed was something else.

 

“Sister?” Diggle asked curious.

“Oliver and I were going out at the time. But he took my sister on the gambit. He was screwing her and cheating on me when she died.” Laurel said with venom in her voice.

 

_ Laurel shut the TV off, not wanting to hear anymore. The scene shifted back to the Queen mansion. It was night, and Oliver emerged from his bathroom in only a towel. _

 

Thea gasped at the sight of her brother’s torso. It was littered with scars. Laurel stared in horror at the injuries all over his body. Even Roy and Diggle seemed surprised. Those weren’t scars you could get from tree branches or falls. Those were the result of torture and gunshot wounds. 

“Oh my god what happened to him?” Thea said.

 

_ “After five years, everything that was once familiar is now unrecognizable.” Oliver was saying. He was looking himself over, cataloging his various scars. "The face I see in the mirror is a stranger." For a moment looking in the mirror, he saw himself in his familiar green hood. But as he turned away, his mind was back to where his journey began. The Queen's Gambit made its way through stormy seas. Inside the boat, Robert Queen was looking at a weather map on the wall as one of the crewmen came in from the storm. _

 

Thea let out a sob at the sight of her dead father. She hugged Tommy sobbing all over his shirt.

 

_ "The storm's a category 2." The crewman said. "The captain's recommending we head back." _

 

Laurel narrowed her eyes in suspicion. The gambit had sailed fine in category two storms before. Why had it gone down this time?

 

_ Are we in trouble?" he asked. "One of us is." Robert replied with a small smile. Oliver let out a small laugh, but before he could say anymore Sara came out of the room in nothing more than her lingerie and a short silk robe. " _

 

At the sight of her sister, a tear went down the side of Laurel’s cheek. “Oh Sara,” Laurel said sadly. A flash of anger went through her. After all, she was still screwing her boyfriend. 

 

_ "Ollie?" she started, then noticed Robert. Grinning, she wrapped the robe around herself. "Where do you keep the bottle opener on this thing?" "I'll be there in a minute, Sara." Oliver said with a grin. Sara grinned and went back into the room, her hair swaying behind her. Robert came up to his son and put a hand on his shoulder. "You know, son, that is not going to finish well for either of them or for you." The flashback ended and Oliver was again standing in the foyer of the mansion, looking at a picture of his younger self and his dad. He was staring at it pensively, and then he heard the front door open. He put the picture down as a grin came to his face. "What did I tell you? Yachts suck." "Tommy Merlyn." Oliver replied hugging his best friend. Tommy hugged him back strongly, happy to have his brother back. "I missed you, buddy." Tommy said. The scene shifted, and the whole family (plus Tommy) was seated around the dining room table. Oliver sat at one end, with Thea and Tommy to his left and right respectively; Moira sat at the other end with Walter to her left. "Ok." Tommy started. "What else did you miss? Super bowl winners Giants, Steelers, Saints, Packers, Giants again. A black president, that's new. Oh, and 'Lost,' they were all dead I think." He finished with confusion in his voice.  _

 

Laurel rolled her eyes at what Tommy considered the most important part of current society.

 

_ "What was it like there?" Thea asked suddenly. _

 

In the viewing room, Thea winced at the question. ‘How could I be so insensitive?’ she thought to herself.

 

_ There was silence as everyone turned to look at Oliver. He put on a fake smile. "Cold." He said after a moment of thought. Tomorrow, you and me, we're doing the city." Tommy suddenly announced, sensing that it was time to move on. "You've got a lot to catch up on." "That sounds like a great idea." Moira said. "Good." Oliver replied. "Then I was hoping to swing by the office." Walter and Moira exchanged glances. "Well, there's plenty of time for all that." Walter responded. "Queen Consolidated isn't going anywhere." At that moment, Raisa came back into the room with a bowl of pears. She tripped on the rug and stumbled into Oliver, who deftly caught her and the bowl "Oh, I am so sorry, Mr. Oliver." She said. Oliver smiled at the older Russian. "Ni dlya kogo ne volnuites." He replied _

 

“Umm… since when can Ollie speak russian?” Tommy asked confused. “I thought he was alone on the island.”

“I don’t know,” Laurel said in confusion.

 

_ There was a beat in the room as everyone processed that. "Dude, you speak Russian?" Tommy finally exclaimed. "I didn't realize you took Russian at college, Oliver." Walter said, slightly confused. "I didn't realize you wanted to sleep with my mother, Walter." Oliver replied bluntly. _

 

“Burn,” Roy said leaning back into his chair. Everyone in the room (minus diggle) shot roy a glance.

 

_ Conversation again died, and Walter and Moira glanced at each other. Moira looked back to her son, whose face showed only polite interest, no anger or disappointment. Moira looked over to Thea. "I didn't say anything." She said. "She didn't have to." Oliver added. Moira's eyes narrowed slightly, then she nodded to herself, seemingly coming to a decision. "Oliver," she started, taking Walter's hand in her own, "Walter and I are married. And I don't want you to think that either one of us did anything to disrespect your father." "We both believed that Robert, like you, was, uh, well, gone." Walter added. "It's fine." Oliver said. _

 

Laurel rolled her eyes. “I’m not believing that for a second.” She scoffed.

 

_ He stared at his mother for a few moments, before he rose. "May I be excused?" he asked, rising from his chair. Moira nodded, and Oliver turned to leave. "Hey, don't forget about tomorrow, buddy." Tommy called out as Oliver left, casting one last look at Thea. Round the table,, looks of sadness passed over Moira and Thea's face, as they began to realize that while Oliver may have been home, he still wasn't back yet. Later that night, as a storm raged outside the mansion, in his room Oliver slept on the floor besides his open window, with rain pelting him as he slept fitfully. A voice could be heard counting "One, two, three, four…", and suddenly the screen flashed back to the stateroom on the Gambit. Oliver was busy opening a bottle of wine as Sara sat on the bed, counting the beats between the lightning flashes and thunder. "It's getting closer." Sara said, as the lights flashed on and off. "That's not very scientific." Oliver said teasingly. "What would you know about science, Mr. Ivy league dropout?" she asked as he brought two glasses of wine to the bed. "I happen to know a lot about science." Oliver said, handing her a glass. "I know about fermentation. I know biology…" he trailed off as he kissed her. The broke apart and Sara leaned back smiling. "Laurel's gonna kill me." She said, putting the glass down on the nightstand. _

 

“Oh god please don’t make me watch my sister have sex!” Laurel exclaimed. She would never be able to unsee that. 

 

_ "Oh, she's so gonna kill me." "Your sister will never know." Oliver assured her, pressing her down into the mattress. "Come here." Sara laughed and they kissed some more, and suddenly there was a loud crack of thunder. Sara broke away, slightly panicked. "Ok, that one was really close." She said nervously. "Sara," Oliver said, grinning at the girl, "we're gonna be fine." Suddenly, without warning, the room seems to flip and suddenly the far wall became the floor. Oliver and Sara were thrown out of the bed, slamming into the wall. Oliver staggered to his knees, pulling himself up on the edge of the bed. "Sara?" he called out, looking around. There, across the room near the door lay Sara, a small cut on her head bleeding. She blinked in confusion, then look up and back at Oliver. She reached for him but was suddenly swept from the room "Sara!" Oliver screamed as the water claimed him, too. _

 

Laurel was crying. Tears flowed freely from her eyes as she buried herself into Tommy’s shoulder. She didn’t want to see her sister die. 

 

_ It seemed to take forever, but in reality it only took a few moments for Oliver to break the surface of the ocean. He gasped for breath and looked around frantically. "Sara!" he screamed. "Oliver!" Robert called from the life raft. Oliver frantically swum for the raft, and Robert and a crewman pulled him onboard. "Sara! Sara!" Oliver screamed. He lunged for the side, trying to get back in the water to find her. Robert grabbed him and held him in. "No! Dad, she's out there!" "She's not there, Oliver. She's gone." The flashback ended, and we see Moira leaning over Oliver, shaking him lightly. "Oliver, wake up." She said loudly, trying to be heard over the storm. She shook his shoulder again "Oliver…" Suddenly Oliver awoke and, running on five years of survival instincts, grabbed his mother's arm and flipped her over him onto the floor. His hand came down to her neck just as Walter yelled "Oliver!" _

 

“Damn, that was impressive,” Roy said in awe as he stared at the screen. 

“Yeah he’s definitely had to have gotten trained at some point. You don’t just pick that up while alone on a deserted island.” Diggle agreed.

“Why would he attack his mother like that though?” Laurel asked confused.

“I think he has PTSD. He’s showing the same symptoms of some guys I served with in Afghanistan. He probably didn’t even realize where he was.”

Thea felt a pang of sadness for her brother as the recording resumed. 

 

_ Oliver blinked and looked down, seeing his mother there for the first time. Scarred at his own actions, he rapidly crawled away from his mother back towards the window. "I'm sorry," he said ashamedly. "I'm so… I'm so sorry." Walter helped Moira up shakily. She knelt down in front of Oliver. "No, it's ok, Oliver." She said in a soothing voice. "It's all right, 're home. You're home." She emphasized. The scene shifted to the next day. Oliver pulled his old munitions crate out from under his bed, and deftly undid the lock. Opening the lid, he pulled out a small, worn book, and an arrow head shaped stone. The scene then shifted to Thea's room, where her friend Margo was crushing a pill into powder with the edge of her credit card. _

 

“THEA DEARDEN QUEEN!” Tommy shouted at the top of his lungs. Thea sank down into her chair busted. “WHY THE HELL ARE YOU DOING DRUGS!?”

“Umm… no reason? You and Ollie did crazy stuff too when you were my age.”

“Oliver and I did a lot of crazy things we shouldn’t have when we were your age. We drank, got wasted, went clubbing, had sex… lots of sex,”

“You’re not helping your case there,” Roy said amused at the scene playing out in front of him.

“But we never, NEVER, did drugs of any kind.” Tommy finished.

“Thea, I’m going to have a long conversation with your mother about this friend group of yours. You are not to do drugs do you understand? I’m a lawyer. I know the kind of trouble you could get into.”

Thea sighed closing her eyes and wishing the world away as the memories resumed.

 

_ "Roxies. Thank you, daddy's ACL tear." Margo replied smugly. Suddenly there was a knock on her door, and Margo hurriedly hid the pill bottle in her jacket as Thea hurriedly threw a folder over the line just as Oliver entered the room. "Ollie." Thea said with a smile. Oliver laughed lightly. "No one's called me that in a while, Speedy." He replied. Thea closed her eyes, half in annoyance and half in embarrassment. "Worst nickname ever." "What, always chasing after me as a kid? I thought it fit pretty well." He replied. A beat. "Maybe it still does."  _

 

“Ollie is going to be pissed about this Thea,” Tommy said shaking his head.

 

_ Margo took her cue and grabbed her bag. "See you at school, Speedy." She said. She threw a grin over her shoulder at Thea as she left. Thea laughed. "Sorry about her." She said. "I have something for you." Oliver held up the stone. Thea smiled in amazement. "You did not come back from a deserted island with a souvenir." "It's a Hozen." Oliver explained. "And in Buddhism, it symbolizes reconnecting. I kept it in hopes that one day; it would reconnect me with you." He finished, handing the Hozen to his sister. Thea took it and smiled warmly at her brother. "A rock! That is sweet." A voice said from the door. Oliver smiled as Tommy entered the room. "You know," he started, "I want one of those t-shirts that says 'my friend was a castaway, and all I got was this crappy shirt'." _

 

Laurel rolled her eyes and smiled at Tommy warmly. “Always ruining the moment huh?”

Tommy laughed and looked into her eyes. Both of them stared for a second before Laurel cleared her throat and turned back to the recording leaving Tommy a little hurt.

 

_ Thea smiled at his antics, then looked to her brother. "Don't let him get you into too much trouble." She advised. "You just got back. Take it slow." She embraced Oliver, who gave her a kiss on the cheek. Thea went back to her desk. "Ahem. The city awaits." Tommy announced, and after shooting Thea a smile, the two left the room. As they walked down the hallway, Tommy looked to Oliver. "Have you noticed how hot your sister's gotten?" he asked, At Oliver's glare, "Because I have not." _

 

Laurel glared over at Tommy. As he laughed awkwardly he was shoved off the couch by Laurel. 

“Roy, switch seats with Tommy.” She said.

Roy rolled his eyes but complied sliding in to sit next to Thea on the edge of the couch.

 

_ Tommy and Oliver were driving through the Glades with the radio blaring. "Your funeral blew." Tommy said breaking the silence. Oliver looked over at him with a grin. "Did you get lucky?" he asked, as they both laughed. "Fish in a barrel." Tommy said. "They were so sad." "No." Oliver said jokingly. _

 

“You used Oliver’s funeral to find a girl to bang?” Roy asked disgusted. 

Tommy had the decency to look ashamed as he nodded his head.

 

_ “And huggy." Tommy continued. "And I am counting on another target rich environment for your welcome home bash." Oliver looked over at Tommy confused. "At my what?" "You came back from the dead." Tommy said. "This calls for a party. You tell me where and when. I'll take care of everything." They came to a stop at a corner. Across from them a group of homeless people stood in front of a run down building.. To the right stood the abandoned steel mill belonging to Queen Consolidated. "And this city's gone to crap." Tommy continued. "Your dad sold his factory just in time. Why'd you want to drive through this neighborhood anyway?" he asked as Oliver looked at the factory with ideas forming in his head. "No reason" he finally said. _

 

“What the hell is he up to?” Laurel thought aloud.

 

_ "So what'd you miss the most?" Tommy asked him, turning to him and grinning. "Steaks at the Palm, drinks at the station, meaningless sex?" "Laurel." _

 

Laurel looked up in surprise. “What?” She said in disbelief.

“Despite him being an idiot, I think my brother really did love you.” Thea said softly.

“He has a funny way of showing it.” Laurel said coldly.

 

_ The smiled dropped off of Tommy’s face immediately. "Everyone is happy you're alive." He said confused. "You want to see the one person who isn't?" Oliver just shrugged looking somewhere in the distance. The scene shifted again to CNRI, where Joana was talking with Laurel. "Laurel, I just got this from Hunt's lawyers." She said handing Laurel a folder full of documents. "They filed a change of venue. We are now in front of Judge Grell." "Hunt funded Grell's reelection campaign." Laurel said in realization. "Mmhmm." She said. "He's got Grell in his back pocket." Laurel stated. "You know, it's fun being your friend." Joanna replied. "I get to say 'I told you so' a lot." "No." Laurel shook her head. "Adam Hunt is not smarter than we are." "No, he's just richer and willing to commit multiple felonies." "We don't need to go outside the law," Laurel started. "To find justice." Joanna finished. " Your dad's favorite jingle." _

 

“That is literally the dumbest thing I have ever heard.” Roy said annoyed.

“What?” Laurel asked.

“If that was true, then the Glades wouldn’t have so much crime in them.” Roy pointed out. “That statement is just ridiculously naïve and uninformed.”

 

_ Joanna smiled and walked away, and Laurel turned around to see Oliver standing by her desk, looking at a board full of information on Adam Hunt. Oliver looked over to Laurel and gave a slight smile "Hello, Laurel." _

 

“This isn’t going to go well,” Tommy said.

 

_ The scene shifted, and the two were walking through an outdoor plaza. "You went to law school." Oliver was saying, "You said you would." Yeah." Laurel agreed sullenly. "Everyone's proud." "Adam Hunt's a heavy hitter." Olive tried. "You sure you want to get in the ring with him?" "Five years and you want to talk about Adam Hunt?" she asked. Oliver shook his head. "No. Not really." Laurel sighed and they stopped walking, Oliver turning to face her. "Why are you here, Ollie?" she asked tiredly. "To apologize." Oliver replied. "It was my fault. I wanted to ask you not to blame her." "For what?" she asked. "Falling under your spell? How could I possibly blame her for doing the same things that I did?" "I never meant to..." "She was my sister." Laurel cut him off. "I couldn't be angry because she was dead. I couldn't grieve because I was so angry. That's what happens when your sister dies while screwing your boyfriend." She paused to compose herself. "We buried an empty coffin," she finally said, "because her body was at the bottom of the ocean where you left her. It should have been you." Oliver looked pained, the truth of her words stinging. "I know that it's too late to say this, but I'm sorry." He said at last. "Yeah, I'm sorry, too." Laurel replied acidly. "I'd hoped that you'd rot in hell a whole lot longer than five years." _

 

Laurel cringed at the ferocity of her words, but she couldn’t exactly say she felt otherwise. Thea however glared at her the pain evident in her eyes.

“You make it sound like my brother murdered her,” Thea said in anger. “Its Sara’s fault just as much as it is Ollie’s. She chose to go on that damn boat.” Laurel closed her eyes absorbing the words. As much as it stung, she knew it was true. It wasn’t all Ollie’s fault. Although he still held a lot of blame.

 

_ She stalked past him back to CNRI. As she passed by Tommy, she asked' "How did you think that was gonna go, Tommy?" "About like that." He replied. Soon, Tommy and Oliver were walking back towards the alley where Tommy had parked his car. "Ok, so we took care of that." Tommy was saying. "Good call. Now we can make up for lost time. If you're not too sick of fish, I suggest we find some leggy models and eat Sushi all day. What do you say?" he stopped suddenly as a van came from out of nowhere and pulled up right behind his car, slamming on the breaks before it hit the two friends. Two men in demon masks and blue hoodies came out of nowhere. "What're they doing?" Tommy asked, startled. Before either man could react, the masked men shot the pair with tranquilizer darts. Tommy went down immediately, but Oliver took a few more moments, as he started fading, he saw a cook come out of the back of a restaurant, taking out the trash. He only had time to say "What the hell?" before a third demon masked man with a submachine gun shot him. The last thing Oliver saw before he passed out was one of the demon masks peering down at him. _

 

Thea gasped in fear. Her brother had just been kidnapped. Laurel looked over towards Tommy nervously hoping he and Ollie got out ok. Diggle sat observing the skill of the masked men as Roy sat forward in his seat with a piqued interest.

 

_ The scene flashed back to the life raft, where the three survivors sat, floating on the rough sea at night. Robert handed Oliver a bottle of water. "Here, son." He said, "Drink." "What the hell are you doing?!" the crewman shouted. "That's all we've got!" Robert glared at the man. "If anybody's making it out of here, it's gonna be him." He said as Oliver took a drink of water. Robert put an arm around his shoulders and pulled him closer to his chest. "I'm so sorry." He said. "I thought I'd have more time. I'm not the man you think I am. I didn't build our city, I failed it. And I wasn't the only one." _

 

“What is dad talking about?” Thea asked confused.

 

_ "Mr. Queen? Mr. Queen!" the blackness was lifted, reveling one of the demon masked men as he pulled the bag up from over Oliver's head. The man held a Taser and hit the activation stud, causing a current of electricity to flow between the two prongs at the end. "Did your father survive that accident?" Oliver remained silent, looking around the room. He saw three men, one with a submachine gun, another, also with a gun, standing near Tommy, who was still passed out on a wooden pallet. "I ask the questions." The man said, "You give me the answers." Oliver was still silent, so the man stuck the Taser on his chest, shocking him. Oliver groaned loudly behind clenched teeth. _

 

Thea let out a cry as she watched her brother being tortured. She instinctively leaned into Roy who didn’t even notice as he wrapped an arm around her.

 

_ "Did he make it to the island? Did he tell you anything?" the mask asked again, and again Oliver was silent, so he tased him. Oliver let out another groan. Finally, he looked up at the mask. "Yes, he did." He said. "What did he tell you, Mr. Queen?" Oliver looked right into the darkened eye holes of the mask. "He told me I'm gonna kill you." _

 

Laurel, Tommy, and Thea were shocked at the tone of his voice. He sounded dead serious and terrifying.

 

_ The mask and his friends all shared a laugh. "You're delusional." He said finally. "You're zip cuffed to that chair." Oliver lifted his nowfreed hands. "Not anymore." He said. Then, before they could react, he went into motion. He ducked a punch from his interrogator, and then flipped the chair up to block a second. He reversed the chair, sending the hard edge of the seat into the chest of the second man, then ripped out of back seat posts and spun around, staking the interrogator in the heart. For good measure, he brought the Taser up and shocked him under his jaw, sending him to the floor. He grabbed the second man and swung him around in front of his as a shield, just as the third man fired. The bullets hit the second guy in the chest killing him. Seeing that, the third bolted from the room. Oliver let the man drop and ran over to Tommy. Bending down he checked his pulse, making sure his friend was alive. Noting that he was, Oliver took off after the third man, just as Tommy started to come around. As Oliver started gaining ground, the man fired wildly behind him. Oliver was able to duck and dodge out of the way of the fire. They made it into another warehouse and the man fired wildly once more spraying bullets everywhere, once more Oliver was able to stay ahead of the fire, jumping off a platform and grabbing on to some chains, as the man frantically tried to reload. Oliver didn't give him a chance, swinging around and launching himself at the man. A punch to the face bent the man backwards, and Oliver spun around, wrapping his arm around the man's neck from behind in a reverse choke. "You killed that man." Oliver said, holding the man in place. "You don't have to do this." He gasped out. "Yes, I do." Oliver replied, then with a jerk, broke the man's neck. "Nobody can know my secret." _

 

“Oh my god…” Thea said shocked. “He just killed that guy.” Laurel shook her head. There was no way Ollie could just kill someone in cold blood. He wasn’t a murderer. Was he?

 

_ The scene shifted to the sitting room at Queen Manor, where Oliver was being interviewed by Detective Lance and his partner, Detective Hilton. Moira and Walter were there as well, and on the coffee table before them lay the sketch of Oliver and Tommy's 'savior', a man in a hood. "So that's your story." Lance was saying. "A guy in a green hood flew in and single handedly took out 3 armed kidnappers." He shrugged. "I mean, who is he? Why would he do that?" Oliver shrugged in return. "I don't know. Find him and you can ask." "Yeah." Lance said doubtfully. He looked over at Tommy. "What about you? You see the hood guy?" "I saw…" Tommy hesitated for a moment, his eyes flickering over to Oliver, who was looking back at him with an unreadable expression. "Just movement." He said finally. "Everything blurry. I was kind of out of it." "Yeah." Lance replied, disbelieving. He looked back to Oliver. "It's funny, isn't it? One day back, and already somebody's gunning for you. Aren't you popular?" _

 

Laurel hung her head in shame. “Oh dad…” She whispered sadly.

 

_ Moira's eyes narrowed at Lance. "Were you able to identify the men?" she asked. "Scrubbed identities, untraceable weapons." Hilton said. "These were pros." "Yeah." Lance added. "Well, they probably figured you'd pay a king's ransom to get your boy back or a Queen's ransom, as it were." His gaze turned to Oliver. "After all, a parent would do anything to keep their child safe." "I don't find your tone appropriate, Detective." Moira interjected. Walter slowly stood. "If Oliver can think of anything else, he'll be in touch." He said. "Thank you, gentlemen, for coming." Lance gave a cold smile and rose, tucking the drawing back into his travel case. He stared at Oliver. "Your luck never seems to run out, does it?" he said, before he and his partner leave. _

 

“That was extremely unprofessional.” Diggle said.

“Yeah how does he even have a job still?” Roy asked confused.

“I honestly don’t know sometimes. I still have to drag him out of bars every night.” Laurel said sadly.

 

_ Lance gave a cold smile and rose, tucking the drawing back into his travel case. He stared at Oliver. "Your luck never seems to run out, does it?" he said, before he and his partner leave. Oliver walks over the window and takes a calming breath, before turning back and looking at Tommy, who stares back with an unreadable expression of his own. Next, we find ourselves in Oliver's room. He's studying news clipping son his computer about Adam Hunt. He looks at his father's book, and sure enough Adam Hunt is a name on The List. You are different." Oliver looks up and smiles at Raisa as she enters his room with a tray of food. As she approaches, he turns the book over and clears his monitor. "Not like you to read a book." "I missed you, Raisa." He said warmly. "No kitchen on the island?" she joked. "No." Oliver says. "No friends either." He stood and walked towards her, taking the tray. "Hey. Thank you." He took the tray and sat it down on his bed, then looked back at the maid. "Do I really seem different?" "No." she said. "You're still a good boy." "Oh, I think we both know I wasn't." "But a good heart." She added warmly. Oliver smiled. "I hope so." He said. "I want to be the person you always told me I could be." The scene shifted, and now we see Oliver leaving the mansion. "Oliver," Moira's voice called out, stopping him in his tracks, he turned to see his Mother, Walter, and a tall, wellbuilt man. _

 

“Well I guess this is where I come in.” Diggle said.

 

_ "I want to introduce you to someone," she was saying. "John Diggle. He'll be accompanying you from now on." Oliver smiled. "I don't need a babysitter." He argued. "Darling, Oliver's a grown man." Walter added. "And if he doesn't feel he needs armed protection…" "Yes, I understand," Moira interjected, "but this is something I need." Oliver smiled at his mother, then looked once more at the bodyguard. Soon, Diggle was driving the Bentley downtown, with Oliver in the back. "So…what do I call you?" he asked. Diggle glanced in the rearview mirror at his principal as he drove. "Diggle's good." He said. "Dig if you want." "You're exmilitary?" "Yes, sir." He replied. "105th Airborne out of Kandahar, retired. Been in the private sector a little more than four years now." He glanced in the mirror again. "I don't want there to be any confusion, Mr. Queen. My ability to keep you from harm will outweigh your comfort. Do we have an agreement? Sir?" He heard the sound of the back door opening then closing in rapid succession. He glanced over his shoulder to see that Oliver was gone. "Sir!" he called out, slamming on the brakes. He got out of the car and hurried around to the back, throwing open the back door to see the car deserted. He looked around in vain but Oliver was gone. _

 

Everyone in the room burst out laughing with the exception of Dig who just seemed embarrassed.

 

_ The scene shifted, and we see Oliver walking down in the heart of the Glades. He had picked up new clothes and gear, and now he made his way back to the abandoned Queen steel mill. He tossed his bags over the high fence, and then jumped the fence himself. Picking up the bags, he calmly walked into the mill. Long abandoned, the mill was an empty husk. Trash littered the floor, and Oliver stopped when something caught his eye. Bending down, he found an old Queen Consolidated annual report, his father's face on the cover. He picked it up and stared at it. "The abduction was unexpected.' His voice sounded. 'It forced me to move up my plans, but what I told the police was true. The man in the green hood was there in that warehouse, and he's just beginning.’ _

 

“I wonder what he’s planning?” Laurel said.

 

_ What followed were a series of images as Oliver began building his lair knocking down walls, breaking through the floor to the basement below, maneuvering a generator and other equipment he had had delivered via unconventional sources. Soon, he had several tables set up, lights over each of the tables flickered on when he powered up the generator. He set up his computer system at the forefront and started uploading and sorting files. While the computes worked, he worked two first on creating new arrows with the machine tools, then on working out his body doing several reps on the salmon ladder, inverted crunches, and other exercises.  _

 

Tommy watched feeling jealousy pump through his veins. He felt kid of inferior at the moment watching his best friend do exercise while seriously ripped. Laurel on the other hand felt her heartbeat flutter at the sight of Oliver working out shirtless. Thea noticed and sent a knowing smirk her way.

 

_ Finally, he pulled his munitions box out and set it on a table, opening it up. He pulled out his custom recurve bow, strapped his quiver to his back, and loaded up a bucket with tennis balls. Steadying himself, he knocked over the bucket and let the balls bounce out onto the floor. At once, he started drawing, nocking, and firing arrows, one after the other, until all of the tennis balls were pinned to the wall, each with an arrow dead center. Later, Oliver is sitting at his new computer station watching a news report about Hunt. "The suit alleges that Hunt committed multiple acts of fraud and theft against the city's underprivileged. Laurel Lance, an attorney for the city necessary…" the news report tuned out as Oliver began speaking his thoughts once more. "Adam Hunt his crimes go deeper than fraud and theft, but he's been able to bully, bribe, or kill anyone who's gotten into his way." Oliver moved from his weapons table to the crate and pulled out a familiar green hood. 'He hasn't met me yet.' The scene shifted to a parking garage where Adam Hunt, Laurel's boss Eric Gitter, and two of Hunt's bodyguards were swiftly walking. _

 

“You’ve got to be kidding me. My boss is with Hunt? I can’t believe this!” Laurel said enraged. 

 

_ "You remind Grell I put him on the bench, I can take him off." Hunt said viciously. "I will turn him into a cautionary tale." "Yes, Mr. Hunt." Gitter replied. "And this attorney, Laurel Lance? You said she wasn't gonna be a problem anymore." Hunt continued. "I told you to fix that situation." He stopped and looked at Gitter. "Why are you still here?" Gitter nodded subserviently and left. The other three men continued the walk to his car, when suddenly a light exploded behind them. The first guard turned to look, his hand going for his gun in his waistband until an arrow pierced his hand and gut, pinning it there. The guard fell with a cry, while the second guard pushed Hunt into the back of the limo. "Get in the car!" he commanded, and then turned around, drawing his weapon and firing several times into the darkened garage. He paused, searching for a target. "Hey." A voice called out, "You missed." Hunt listened inside the car as his second man was taken down, and suddenly a window shattered. He looked up to see an arrow lodged in the seatback. He reached for it in puzzlement and then suddenly he was yanked through the shattered window and tossed to the ground. He scrambled onto his back, to see Oliver, in his green uniform, hood, and grease paint over his eyes. The brim of the hood was pulled low to distort his face. And he had an arrow nocked and aimed right at Hunt's chest. _

 

“That was brutal,” Roy commented. Everyone turned back to look at him and that was when he and Thea noticed how they were sitting. They quickly jumped away from each other. Tommy shot Roy a suspicious glance before turning his attention back to the screen. 

 

_ Aah!" the man screamed. "What? What? Just… just tell me what you want!" The Hood jumped off the room of the car and hauled Hunt to his feet. "You're gonna transfer $40 million into Starling city bank account 1141 by 10 P.M. tomorrow night." He demanded. "Or what?" Hunt shot back, a scowl on his face. "Or I'm gonna take it, and you won't like how." The Hood replied, then turned and walked away. Gaining courage at the Arrows retreating back, Hunt shouted, "If I see you again, you're dead!" In response, The Hood in one fluid motion turned and fired an arrow into the back window of the limo. Hunt looked at the hole in shock, then turned back to the Hood but he was already gone. The scene shifted to the next day, at Adam Hunt's penthouse apartment, where Hunt was giving his stated to Lance and Hilton. "He was wearing a hood, a green hood," he was saying, "And he had a bow and arrow." The two cops glance at one another, and Hunt misinterpreted their looks. "What, you don't believe me?" he picked up and arrow that was lying on his desk and handed it to Lance. "That maniac put two of my men in the hospital." Lance took the arrow and looked it over. "Well, thanks for your statement. We'll put out an APB on," he looked back up at Hunt and said, slightly mockingly, "Robin Hood." Hunt scowled and to into Lances face. "Hey, pal. I'm not some grocer who got taken for his register. I go to the front of the line." He stepped back and looked at both cops. "Now he said he would be back here by 10 P.M. Make sure you're here first. You can coordinate with Mr. Drakon, my new head of security." He gestured to a tall, thin man in black. All right." Lance said finally. "Well, uh, thanks for your time." The two partners turned and left. As they walked to the elevator, Hilton said, "It looks like Queen was telling the truth." "Yeah." Lance said grudgingly, "Well, there's a first time for everything. This hooded guy comes looking for trouble," he finishes as the doors to the elevator start to close, "he'll find it." _

 

“Bad idea,” Diggle said. “Oliver is clearly more well trained. If he wanted to, he could end your dad in an instant and your dad would never know what happened.”

 

_ The scene shifts back to Queen Manor, where Oliver is exiting. He opens the back door of the Bentley to see John Diggle sitting in the back already. "Put on your seat belt, sir." Dig says with a smile. "Wouldn't want you to miss your party." Oliver smiles in amusement in return as he gets in. We cut to the Iron Works Building, where Oliver's 'Welcome Home' party was already in full swing with music blaring and plenty of hot girls on the dance floor. Oliver walked down the main staircase, pausing only for a moment to check his phone to see if Hunt had deposited the money yet. He hadn't. Frowning momentarily, Oliver put the phone back into his jacket and once again slipped on his 'Oliver Queen party boy' face just as Tommy saw him. "Everybody, hey!" he called out, signaling for the DJ to cut the music. "Man of the hour! Whoo! And, ladies, please give this man a proper homecoming!" We are the champions' started playing as Oliver made his way up to the main stage in the middle of the floor. "Thank you very much, everybody!" he called out as Tommy handed him a shot. He downed it fast and yelled, "I missed Tequila!" The crowd cheered as the music started up again. _

 

“I can’t comprehend how he switches personas like that so quickly!” Thea exclaimed. 

“It’s kind of off putting,” Tommy agrees.

 

_ Across the street in Adam Hunt's penthouse, his security contingent was busy prepping clips and checking their automatic weapons, preparing for the coming fight. Hunt, drink in hand, frowned as he looked out his window. "What the hell's going on out there?" he demanded. "It's across the street." Constantine Drakon replied. "Party for the guy that got rescued off that island Oliver Queen." Hunt nodded sourly and moved back to his desk. _

 

“That is a smart move,” Diggle noted and everyone nodded in agreement. 

 

_ Back at the party, Oliver smiled across the room at Diggle who stood in a corner, though his eyes never left his principal. "Hey." Tommy said, coming up next to his friend, "Does he wipe for you, too?" Oliver chuckled as Tommy threw an arm around his shoulders. "Now by my rough estimate, you have not had sex in 1,839 days. As your wingman, I highly recommend Carmen Golden." He indicated three girls dancing on the stage. "Which one is she?" Oliver asked. "The one who looks like the chick from 'Twilight'." "What's 'Twilight'?" "You're so better off not knowing." Tommy responded, taking a sip of his drink. Oliver looked out at the crowd and spotted something he didn't like Thea, with some of her friends, talking with a guy on the floor. He saw her pass him some cash and palm a packet of pills in return. Oliver frowned. "Back in a minute." He told Tommy as he headed over to his sister. Diggle noticed his movement and moved to follow. Thea smiled as he approached. "Ollie, hey!" she said as she grasped her arm, lightly pulling her away from her friends. "This party is sick!" "Who let you in here?" Oliver demanded quietly. "I believe it was somebody who said, 'Right this way, Miss Queen'." She replied sarcastically. "Well, you shouldn't be here." Thea narrowed her eyes at him as she pulled her arm free. "I'm not 12 anymore." She said. "No." Oliver agreed. "You're 17." Thea scoffed. "Ollie, I love you, but you can't come back here and judge me, especially for being just like you." She noted pointedly. Oliver sighed. "I know that it couldn't have been easy for you when I was… away," he started, but Thea cut him off with a small, incredulous laugh. "Away?" she started, "No. You died. My brother and my father died. I went to your funerals." "I know," Oliver started, but Thea cut him off. "No, you don't." For the first time Oliver caught a glimpse of the pain Thea had been hiding ever since his return. "Mom had Walter, and I had no one. You guys all act like its cool; let's forget about the last 5 years. Well, I can't. For me, it's kind of permanently in there! So I'm sorry if I turned out some major disappointment, but this… me is the best I could do with what I had to work with." She finished, Oliver closed his eyes, unable to meet her gaze. Thea turned back to her friends. "Let's bounce." She said, and the quartet of girls walked away. _

 

Everyone in the room looked at Thea with disappointment.

“Hey I’d like to remind everyone I haven’t done this yet.” Thea defended.

“Yes but you’ve done stuff like it before,” Tommy said sternly remembering his birthday from a few years back.

 

_ “You have the fun dip?" Margo asked. Thea, a little shaken, fumbles for her purse. "Yeah. It's right…" she felt around her purse, but couldn't find the packet of pills. "No." she said in confused embarrassment, "I…I must have dropped it." Oliver stalked away. He paused at a trashcan to throw away the packet he had palmed from her purse; looking up he caught Diggle's' satisfied smirk. _

 

“Way to go Ollie,” Laurel said smiling.

 

_ Oliver turned and started to walk away only to run into Laurel. "Oh!" he exclaimed. "Oh. You're here." "Tommy." Laurel finally said. "He made the point that we have too many years between us to leave things the way we left them." She looked at Oliver, and then glanced around. "Is there someplace quieter that we could go?" "Yeah." They headed outside the main room onto the balcony that overlooked the entry hall. They walked together quietly for a few moments before Laurel spoke. "I'm sorry about saying that you should have been the one who died." She said as they walked. "That was wrong." "If I could trade places with her, I would." Oliver replied sincerely. About Sara." Laurel finally said, stopping and turning to face Oliver. "There's something that I've been afraid to ask, but I need to know." “Ok” Oliver said nervously. "When she died… did she suffer?" Oliver thought back to that moment on the Gambit when Sara was sucked out the door and into the dark ocean beyond. "No." he lied.  _

 

“He was trying to spare me the pain,” Laurel realized sadly. 

 

_ "I think about her every day." Laurel said after a breath. "Me, too." Oliver agreed. "I guess we still have one thing in common then." Laurel commented. "I can't believe I'm gonna say this," she started, "but if you need someone to talk to about what happened to you, I'm here." For a moment, the mask he wore slipped off, and the real Oliver Queen gazed back at Laurel, wanting to take her up on that offer, but knowing he couldn't. The moment was ruined by a buzzing from Oliver's pocket. He took out his phone and glanced at the face 10 P.M. He checked the account app nothing. Oliver shook his head. "Something wrong?" Laurel asked. Oliver looked back up at his former love. "I asked somebody to do something. They didn't do it." The mask slid back into place. "Laurel," he started, "You always saw the best in me. Right now, that's what you're doing, looking at me, and you're wondering if that island changed me somehow, if it made me a better person. It didn't." he smiled slightly. "Stay away from me. Otherwise I'm just gonna hurt you again, but this time, it will be worse." The playboy façade firmly in place, Oliver baked away from Laurel. "Got to roll." He said loudly. "I've got 5 years of debauchery to catch up on!" Laurel looked at him in pity and disgust. "You know what, Oliver? You're wrong." She stalked up to him. "That island did change you. At least now you're honest." With that parting shot, Laurel walked away. _

 

“Why can’t I see through his act” Laurel asked herself.

“You’re only seeing what you want to, and Oliver is very convincing.” Diggle responded.

 

_ Moments later, Oliver was walking through the service corridor when he was stopped by a now familiar voice. "Something I can help you with, sir?" John Diggle called out. "I just wanted a second to myself." Oliver tried. Dig smiled lightly. "I would believe you, Mr. Queen, if you weren't so full of crap." He gestured to the doors. "Party's this way." Oliver sighed in annoyance. He moved to the door and tried the handle. "It's locked." He lied. Dig looked at him for a few moments, and then moved to open the door. As he moved past Oliver, the younger man's arm shot out and caught Diggle in a chokehold, rendering him unconscious in moments.” _

 

“Damnit!” Diggle said in annoyance.

 

_ Across the street, Drakon positioned his men, then locked the doors to the penthouses' office. On the street, Lance and Hilton supervised the police and S.W.A.T., barricading the building. "It's past 10:00." He told Hunt. "He's never getting in here." Hunt nodded in agreement; outside the window, unnoticed by him, and arrow with a cable struck the wall and anchored itself. Hunt and Drakon stood calmly in the office with several other men, when suddenly the lights went out. Then, in the hallway, the elevator dinged. As soon as the doors opened and arrow shot out, killing one guard. Another arrow dropped another guard, and then The Hood was out, using his bow like an escrima stick, beating down the two guards closest to the elevator. He tossed the bow at a third, knocking him down even as he moved towards a fourth, jumping out of the way towards a pillar as the guard fired, then propelling himself off the same pillar and coming down hard on the guard, breaking his neck. He rolled, retrieved his bow and moved behind another pillar as the last guard opened fire. _

 

“Wow, that is so badass,” Roy said in amazement.

 

_ Inside the office, Hunt paced nervously as he heard the sounds of gunfire and then suddenly all was silent. For a moment nothing happened, and then suddenly a figure burst through the glass doors. A guard in the room opened fire, spraying the figure with bullets, only stopping, too late, when he realized it was one of the guards from outside he had just killed. The Hood then killed him with an arrow to the heart, and then unleashed his furry on the last guard, breaking his nose and crushing his throat with the bow. He pulled an arrow and shot at Hunt; the arrow impacted the wall behind the desk. "You missed." Hunt sneered at the Emerald Archer, even as he notches another arrow and held it on the man. "Really?" the Hood said. Suddenly Drakon was on him, flinging his bow away and attacking him with furious punches and kicks. Oliver held his own as Hunt scurried out the room, rapidly he pulled out his phone and called own to Lance. "He's here!" he screamed into the phone. On the ground, Lance got on his walkie talkie. "All units, converge! All units, converge!" He cried out to the men on the ground as they stormed the building. As they all ran up the stairs, The Hood and Drakon continued to fight. Oliver was more than a match for the senior guard, but Drakon was crafty. He pulled out his knife and lunged; Oliver parried and quickly disarmed him. They crashed to the ground, with Drakon falling just in range of one of his men's Uzi's. He grabbed the gun and Arrow ran for Hunt's desk. Drakon opened fire just as The Hood, in one fluid motion, leapt over the desk, pulled a flechette from his arm and threw it back at Drakon, striking and killing the man. The Hood landed hard, stunned into momentary unconsciousness. _

 

Everyone leaned forward nervously on seeing Oliver’s unconscious form.

 

_ A moment later, the sounds of Police out in the hall startled the young man back to wakefulness. He gasped, and then staggered to his feet, pulling a round out of his bulletproof vest that had been concealed under his green jacket. "Lay down your weapons, or we will open fire!" the cops screamed, coming to the door. "I repeat, lay down your weapons…" Without hesitation, The Hood leapt to his feet and shot an arrow that disarmed both cops simultaneously. But Lance was right behind them and opened fire, tracing a line of bullets just behind The Hood as he leapt through a window. Lance and Hilton ran to the window, only to see the hooded man using his bow to cross the zipline he had set up earlier, back to the Iron Works. Hilton and Lance exchanged disbelieving glances. _

 

“Damn,” Roy said under his breath.”

 

_ "Tell me you saw that." Hilton said. Lance took a breath. "Ok." He said, then to the rest of the cops, "Let's go. Move." Minutes later, the cops stormed the party. A man in S.W.A.T. gear rushed up to the DJ booth and shut it down, just as Lance entered, giving orders to his men. "Search the building roof to basement. Find him!" He raised his voice to the crowd. "Starling City police! The party's over, kids." He looked around and saw a familiar face. "Oh, Mr. Merlyn." He said acidly, even as Tommy grinned at the cop in amusement. "Imagine my shock at finding you here. Did you roofie anyone special tonight, huh?" _

 

“What!?” Tommy screamed in anger. “Look I will admit I’m a lot of bad things, but I would never, NEVER, do anything like that!”

Laurel looked down at the floor. “I’m sorry Tommy,” She said. She couldn’t really defend her dad right now. He was acting like a complete ass.

 

_ "Detective!" a voice called out. Lance turned to see Oliver walking towards him. "It's a private party." "Yeah?" Lance shot back. "Well, there was an incident at Adam Hunt's building tonight. You know anything about that?" he asked. "Who's Adam Hunt?" Olive asked, bored. "He's a millionaire bottom feeder, and I'm kind of surprised you aren't friends." "I've been out of town for a… while." Oliver said mildly. Tommy let out a soft laugh. "Yeah." Lance agreed. "Well, he just got attacked by the guy with the hood, the guy that saved your ass the other day." "The hood guy." Oliver said. "Yeah." Lance replied. "You didn't find him?" Oliver asked, then smiled. "I'm gonna offer a reward. Hey, everybody!" Oliver turned around and shouted to his fellow partiers. He held up two fingers. "$2 million to anybody that can find a nut bar in a green hood." The crowd cheered in response, and Oliver turned back to Lance. The older cop walked right up to Oliver. "Did you even try to save her?" he demanded; any feelings of satisfaction Oliver had felt a moment ago vanished in an instant. Hilton saw what was happening and interceded, putting a calming hand on Lance and pushing him away lightly. "Ok, he said quietly, "Let's go, partner." Lance, though, wouldn't be deterred. "Did you even try to save my daughter?" he demanded. _

 

A single tear fell down Laurel’s cheek as she listened to her father’s outburst.

 

_ "Sara wouldn't want this." Hilton said, leading Lance away. "Partner, let's go." Oliver's face was set in stone, as the cops left, but after a moment he made his way onto the stage. "It's way too quiet in here!" he yelled with a smile, throwing out his arms. "This is a party!" The crowd cheered as Oliver made his way off the stage. Tommy came up to him, giving him a strange look. "Some coincidence," he said, "I mean, you asking to have your party here, and Hunt getting robbed right next door… and by the same guy who rescued us at the warehouse." His tone inferred he was suspicious. Oliver gave him a tight smile. "If I were you, Tommy, I'd just be glad you're alive." He advised calmly.  _

 

Tommy shivered as he heard Oliver say that.

 

_ Tommy stared back at his friend; for the first time since they had met, he truly felt like he didn't know the person standing in front of him. "What happened to you on that island?" he asked haltingly. "A lot." Oliver replied before walking away. The next day, Adam Hunt was pacing his office, screaming into his phone at his accountant. "What the hell are you talking about? $40 million doesn't just up and vanish!" the accountant said something, and he scoffed. "Untraceable?! It is $40 million! Find it!" he ended the call and slammed the phone down onto the desk. He sank into his chair and put his head in his hands, defeated. "How did he do it?" he asked himself while ignoring the arrow embedded in his wall. He paid no attention to it, or to the electronic device that was attached to it; its indicator light blinking green. Meanwhile back at the foundry. Oliver watched as the $40 million transferred from Hunt International's account into a trust account he had set up. He then glanced over at a second screen, where another program was transferring that money back to the people which Hunt had stolen it from. He picked up the notebook, and calmly crossed Adam Hunt's name off The List. Oliver looked at the picture of his father on the shareholders report. _

 

Laurel smiled as she saw this. Maybe this was justice.

 

_ The scene shifted back to the raft. It looks to have been several days. The crewman dozed across from Robert and Oliver, perched on the side of the raft with a knife held loosely in his hand. Robert glanced at the man, and then pulled Oliver in close. "There's not enough for all of us." He whispered to his son. "Save your strength." Oliver said, weakly. "You can survive this," Robert insisted. "Make it home, make it better. Right my wrongs. But you gotta live through this first." Oliver appeared to doze off, so Robert shook him lightly. "You hear me, Ollie?" he demanded. "You hear me, son?" "Just rest, dad." Oliver said tiredly, dozing off once more. Robert seemed to come to a decision. "No." he said quietly, kissing his son on the forehead. He gently moved Oliver away from him, propping him up against the edge of the raft. Then, eyeing the crewman, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a gun. The crewman only had a moment to look surprised before Robert pulled the trigger, shooting the man in the head and knocking him off the raft. That woke Oliver up suddenly, and he scrambled back from his dad in shock. Dad?!"he exclaimed in stunned horror. Robert looked sadly back at his son. "Survive." He said, and then he put the gun to his temple and pulled the trigger. "No!" Oliver screamed in horror.  _

 

Thea started sobbing uncontrollably as she watched her father commit suicide. She leaned into Roy who was uncomfortable but didn’t pull back from the emotional girl. Everyone was in shock. Oliver had just watched his father commit suicide so that he could live. That was a heavy burden to bear. 

 

_ Then suddenly we were back in the Foundry as Oliver watched the money transfers end. The next day at CNRI, Laurel spent most of the afternoon and evening fielding calls from happy, if puzzled clients. "If, hypothetically, $50,000 magically appeared in your bank account, it might be best for you not to speak about it." She was saying into her phone as Joanna approached her desk. "To anyone. Ever." She smiled. "God bless you, too." She said as she hung up the phone. "I just got a very grateful phone call from one of our clients against Adam Hunt." Joanna said. "Me, too." Laurel replied, and the two laughed. "It looks like Starling City has a guardian angel." She remarked. Joanna glanced back then said. "By the way, your cute friend's here." Laurel's face fell as she figured she was talking about Oliver, but when Laurel turned around she saw Tommy standing there, smiling. "You left the party pretty quick last night," he was saying later as they walked down an ally towards his car. "Even after I made sure the bar was stocked with Pinot Noir." "It wasn't really my scene." Laurel replied lightly. "I thought maybe you and Oliver went manoamano again." He threw out, "I saw you two head out." "There's nothing between Oliver and I," Laurel said with finality. "Not anymore." "Here I thought the only thing between you and Oliver was us." "I wouldn't exactly characterize us as an 'us', Tommy." Laurel said teasingly. Tommy stopped and turned to face her. "Then what would you call it?" he asked. "A lapse." She decided. _

 

“Ugh!” Thea said in disgust. “I don’t want to hear about this.”

 

_ "That's quite a few lapses" Tommy said with a grin. "Your place, my place, my place again…" they both laughed. "Oh, come on, Merlyn." Laurel said with a smile. "We both know that you're not a one girl type of guy." "Depends on the girl." He announced. Laurel smiled. "I have to go back to work." She said finally, turning to walk away. "Dinah Laurel Lance," Tommy called out, "Always trying to save the world." Laurel turned around and smiled. "Hey." She said, "If I don't try and save it, who will?" she gave him a small wave, then turned and walked away. Tommy smiled and got in his car, and unnoticed by either of them, The Arrow sat perched on a fire escape high above, watching it all. 'She says the island changed me.' Oliver's voice said. She has no idea how much.' Once more we are back on the raft. Oliver pulls himself up, looking over the edge of the raft into the distance where Lian Yu lay waiting. 'There are many more names on the list, those who rule my city through intimidation and fear. Every last one of them will wish I had died on that island.'  _

 

“He might actually be able to make a real difference,” Roy noted.

 

_ Back at Queen Manor, a darkly dressed man was walking down the rear steps towards the garden where another figure was waiting for him. "The police failed to identify the men I hired to kidnap Oliver," he said, "and they never will. Should we arrange another abduction?" "No." Moira Queen said. "There are other ways of finding out what my son knows." _

 

“WHAT THE HELL!” Thea yelled as Dinah walked back into the room.

“Calm down Speedy, you’ll get answers soon enough. Until then, I came to ask if you guys wanted any snacks. You guys probably need to get through a few more memories before lunch.”

“Umm ok,” Thea said still trying to understand what was going on.

“You guys start the next memory set and I’ll be back in a bit.” Dinah said leaving again. She walked down the hall to the control room of the watchtower. 

“You ok Laurel?” A voice called to her as she entered.

“Yeah I’m good Roy. Although you should probably call me Dinah for now. Just while my younger self is here.” She responded to the red clothed hero.

“Ok then. I guess for now call me Arsenal.” Dinah smiled as she sat down next to him.

“Do you really think we can save them?” Dinah said her voice quavering. 

“I hope so.” Arsenal responded. “I can’t lose everyone again.”


	2. Honor Thy Father

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone watches episode two of season one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the positive response on chapter one! I have decided to continue this fic so please subscribe or bookmark it for the next chapters. I really enjoyed this chapter so I hope you enjoy!

Back in the viewing room, everyone was beginning to settle down in their seats.

“Ready?” Diggle asked before playing the next memory. A collective yes went around the room. Diggle pressed play on the remote and the next memory started.

 

_ The next memory set started with Oliver's voice. 'The day I went missing was the day I died.' Scenes of him finding the island are shown, and then we cut back to the Foundry, where Oliver is gearing up. 'Five years in hell forged me into a weapon, which I use to honor a vow I made to my father, who sacrificed his life for mine. In his final moments, he told me the truth: that our family's wealth had been built on the suffering of others. That he failed our city, and that it was up to me to save it and right his wrongs. But to do that without endangering the people closest to me, I have to be someone else. I have to be… something else.' _

_ The scene cuts to a rooftop, where Oliver engages in combat with six armed guards. In under a minute he has taken them all out, beating them down one at a time with sharp, effective punches and kicks, broken up with swipes from his bow. The brass knuckle hand guard on the bow does its job admirably, knocking out the last of the men guarding his target. _

_ "Whoa, whoa! Easy, wait, wait! No, please-" the man's pleas were cut off as The Hood grabbed the man by his collar and threw him off the helicopter platform, onto an air conditioning unit. The Hood jumped down to join him, smashing his boot into the grate covering the fane, then forced the man's face over the hole, mere inches away from the spinning fan blades. _

 

“Holy crap!” Roy said surprised by the brutality of the fight.

“Ollie’s not gonna kill him is he?” Thea asked looking around the room.

“I don’t know,” Diggle replied honestly. Oliver has shown the potential for that kind of violence, but Dig wasn’t sure that he’d actually murder someone like that. 

 

_ "Marcus Redman," he growled, voice modulator disguising his voice, "you have failed this city." _

_ "Please, don't! Please! Don't!" Redman cried out in terror as The Hood leaned in closer. _ __   
_ "Cell phone, inside pocket; call your partner." He growled. "Tell him to give those pensioners back their money. Do it now." _ _   
_ __ "Okay." The man said weakly, and The Hood jumped down and stalked away.

 

“Well at least he didn’t kill him,” Tommy said. He honestly wasn’t sure what to think of Oliver right now. He was a killer. That much had been made clear in the first set of memories. But it was hard to reconcile the man before the island to the Hood.

 

_ Cut to the next morning in Queen Manor as Oliver walks into the sitting room, where Moira, Walter and Thea were watching a news report. _ __   
__   
_ 'Over the past 15 years, Mr. Redman has withdrawn more than $30 million from the plan's account. Mr. Redman claims refunding the Halcyon pension plan has always been his intent. But sources say Redman was coerced by the vigilante.' On the screen, the familiar sketch of the Hood came up. Oliver gestured at the screen. _ __   
_ "This guy gets more airtime than the Kardashians, right?" he said jovially. _ __   
__   
  


Thea groaned. “Really… the Kardashians are so overrated.” She said.

“After everything you’ve seen Ollie do since he’s been back, your concern for him is his outdated references?” Laurel asked amused.

“It’s important.” Thea defended.

 

_ Thea shot him a look. "Five years on an island and you still know who they are." She said. Oliver smiled. _ _   
_ _ "I've been catching up." He said. "It's nice to see how much our culture has improved while I was away." _

_ "But the city used to be different." Moira interjected. "People used to feel safe." _ __   
_ "Aw, what's the matter, mom?" Thea said sarcastically, "Afraid we're gonna be next?" _ __   
__   
Thea laughed. “That’s hilarious. Oliver would never go after Mom or Walter,” she stated clearly.

“Even after she had him kidnapped?” Laurel pointed out.

“Ok maybe he’d get upset, but he’d never attack her.”

 

In the control room Dinah and Arsenal couldn’t contain their laughter at the irony of that statement.

 

_ "Do you have any questions about today, Oliver?" Walter asked. "It's a simple proof-of-life declaration. Just read out a brief, prepared statement to the judge, and then your death-in-absentia judgment will be voided." _ __   
_ Oliver gave him a tight smile. "It's fine, Walter. I've been in a courtroom before." _ _   
_ __ "Four times by my estimate." Tommy said as he walked in the room. "You know, there was the DUI, the assault on that paparazzi douchebag, stealing that taxi, which was just awesome, by the way, and who could forget peeing on the cop?" Oliver had the sense to look slightly embarrassed at his youthful transgressions.

 

“Peeing on a cop?” Roy questioned amused.

“Yep,” Tommy said proudly.

“My dad is still mad about that by the way,” Laurel said laughing.

“Wait he peed on you dad?”

At Laurel’s nod the room burst into laughter. When everyone finally calmed down Diggle resumed the memory.

 

_ Moira shot Tommy an annoyed look. "I wish everyone would." She said bluntly. _ __   
_ "I'd hang, but we're headed to court." Oliver said with a tight smile. Tommy grinned back, oblivious to the tension. _ __   
_ "I know, that's why I'm here." He said. "My best friend is getting legally resurrected; I wouldn't miss this for the world." _ __   
_ "Right." Oliver sighed. He looked at Thea. "What about you?" he asked. _ _   
_ __ "Oh, I think the first four times of you in court was enough for me." She said tersely as she walked out of the room.

 

“You’re not going?” Laurel asked surprised.

“Thea, that’s not really nice.” Tommy scolded.

From his arm chair Diggle nodded in agreement. Rolling her eyes Thea turned her attention back to the memory.

 

_ "Fair enough." Oliver sighed. _ __   
_ "Mrs. Queen?" Diggle announced as he came into the room. "Car's ready." _ __   
_ Moira nodded and, shooting Tommy a look and ignoring the arm he held out for her, took her husband's arm as well and walked out to the car. Tommy held out his arm jokingly to Oliver, who just smirked and walked out. Shrugging his shoulders, Tommy followed. _ __   
_ The scene shifted to outside the courthouse, where Oliver was trying to make his way through a sea of reports. They pressed in close from all sides, screaming questions. _ __   
_ "Are you going to testify as to what happened when the yacht sank?" _ __   
_ "Are you going to talk about the boat crash?" _ __   
_ "Mr. Queen, did you see Sara Lance die?" _ __   
  


Laurel held back a tear at that question.

 

_ As the storm of questions continued, his mind brought up images of another storm, feeling the room tilt, seeing Sara pulled away from him by the ocean… _ __   
_ Inside the courtroom, Oliver was giving his statement. "There was a storm. The boat went down. I was the only survivor." His mind flashed back to the raft, screaming for Sara as his father stopped him from lunging back into the ocean to search for her. _ __   
_ 'She's not there!' Robert said, even as Oliver cried out. 'Sara!' he screamed… _ _   
_ __ Back in court, Oliver continued. "My father didn't make it." He thought of the moment that Robert had put the gun to his temple and fired. Moira was crying softly, and even Tommy looked saddened as he finally started to grasp the suffering his friend had gone through. "I almost died, I… I thought that I had, because I spent so many days on that life raft before I saw land." He thought of his first sighting of Lian Yu, then of staggering to shore. "When I reached it, I knew I knew that I was gonna have to live for both of us. And in those five years, it was that one thought that kept me going." He finished shakily. Even giving that brief, prepared statement had been exceptionally hard on the man."Your honor," his lawyer started, "We move to vacate the death-in-absentia filed after Oliver's disappearance at sea aboard the Queen's Gambit five years ago. Unfortunately we will not be requesting that the declaration of death filed for the petitioner's father, Robert Queen, be rescinded. The Queen family is only entitled to one miracle, I'm afraid."

 

Thea looked down with a tear in her eye as Laurel wrapped her arms around the girl.

 

_ A short time later, the Queens, with Tommy, headed out of the courtroom and down the stairs to the main floor. "Now, onto the offices." Moira said with forced levity. "Everyone is waiting to meet you there." _

 

“You have got to be kidding me,” Thea said putting her hands over her face.

“Yeah not one of your mom’s smartest moves,” Tommy agreed.

“She doesn’t notice how upsetting that testimony was for him?” Laurel asked.

“Probably not. What I’m worried about is her burning him out with the company,” Diggle said concerned. If Oliver really did have PTSD, he didn’t need to be thrown into the deep end of running a company. Especially with his evening activities putting arrows into people.

 

_ "Uh, mom," Oliver said wearily, stopping on the stairs. Moira and Walter turned to face him. "That was a little bit heavier than I was expecting it to be. Can we do that tomorrow? Please?" Moira looked at Walter, who nodded slightly. She smiled at her son. "Of course." "Thank you." Oliver said, and Moira and Walter headed away. Oliver took a moment, then started walking down the stairs, Tommy at his side. "Last week, you couldn't wait to get to the company." His friend observed. "Tommy, I'd just spent five years away from civilization." Oliver explained. "I wasn't exactly thinking straight. I- Hi." Oliver said as he rounded the corner at the bottom of the stairs- and ran straight in to Laurel, who was walking with Joanna and another woman into the courthouse. _

 

“Oh boy,” Tommy said. This was not going to end well.

 

_ "What are you doing here?" she demanded. Oliver looked confused for a moment, the realized what she meant. "Oh, they were bringing me back from the dead. Legally speaking." He smiled. "What are you doing here?" "My job." She replied bluntly. "Right." "More like the D.A.'S." Joanna put in helpfully. There was an awkward pause; Oliver then noticed the sad looking woman on Laurel's right and held out his hand. "Hi, Oliver Queen." He said politely, shaking her hand. "Emily Nocenti." She replied. "Oliver just got back from five years on an uncharted island. Before that, he was cheating on me with my sister." Laurel said acidly. "He was with her when she died. And last week, he told me to stay away from him. It was really good advice." She pushed past him. "Excuse me." _

 

“Could you be anymore of a bitch?” Thea asked.

“I have a right to be upset with him,” Laurel said angrily.

“You do. But you can be angry and not a bitch at the same time,” Thea snapped.

 

_ The four stood around awkwardly for a moment, before Emily spoke up. "It was nice to meet you." She said as Joanna led her away. Tommy clapped him on the shoulder. "Come on, buddy, shake it of . Let's go." The two headed outside. There on the steps the press was gathered, this time around another man. Martin Somers looked confident, smiling at the cameras as the reports clambered for a sound bite, and the two men watched with interest. "Mr. Somers! Mr. Somers!" The all screamed. Martin pointed at one of the reporters. "What do you have to say about the accusations made by Laurel Lance?" she called out. "I don't know what I've done to earn this witch-hunt from Miss Lance and her bosses at the CNRI." He started, still smiling. "But I can tell you this. I am an honest businessman, and I will fight this slander to my last dime and breath. That's all I have to say, thank you." Martin walked away, with some of the press still trailing after him. _

 

“That’s bullshit,” Roy said watching the man walk away.

 

_ Others, however, had spotted Oliver at the top of the stairs. Oliver walked down the stairs towards the car as the reporters shouted their questions. "Oh, there's Mr. Queen." "Mr. Queen, do you want to follow up?" "What happened in there, sir?" "Tell us what happened inside, Mr. Queen!" "Step back everybody, please." Diggle called out, ushering Oliver through the crowd. "Can you give us a couple comments about the island, Mr. Queen? Before you go, sir, please." "Couple of comments about the island, sir." "What happened in there?" Diggle opened the rear door and Oliver, still silent, climbed inside. Diggle shut the door and tried to push the reporters back. "Everybody, step back." One photographer got too close, and Diggle grasped the man's jacket and shoved him back hard. "Hey man, I'll make you swallow that Nikon. Back!" Suddenly there was the sound of squealing tires, and the Bentley pulled away at a fast clip as Diggle and Tommy looked on. _

 

“Oh come on!” Diggle huffed in frustration as the rest of the room was filled with laughter.

 

_ Tommy looked back to the bodyguard. "This happens to you a lot, doesn't it?" he asked glibly. _

“Oliver is the first client I have ever had that’s been able to ditch me.” Diggle said.

“Yeah but he didn’t just do it once,” Tommy began until he saw Diggle’s death glare and cut off.

 

_ Back in the courthouse, Laurel was giving her opening remarks. "How much is a life worth?" she asked. "A life of a man, a good man, a stevedore on the docks of the city in which we live. A father." She stopped and looked back at Emily. "A man with a daughter." She paused for ef ect before continuing. "The plaintiff will prove by a preponderance of evidence that Victor Nocenti learned that his boss, that man sitting right there," she pointed at the defendant, "Martin Somers, was taking bribes from the Chinese triads to smuggle drugs into our city. And when Victor Nocenti threatened to tell the police, Martin Somers had him killed. Mr. Somers is very well-connected, and has friends in the district attorney's of ice. Which is why, if Emily Nocenti is to get justice for her father's death, if Martin Somers is to get justice for his crimes, then someone is going to have to do it for them." _

 

“That was well said Laurel,” Diggle said nodding.

“Thanks,” Laurel said smiling at the compliment.

 

_ Back at the Foundry, Oliver was deep into his workout, preparing himself for the night's activities. 'Martin Somers.' Oliver's voice intoned as he practiced with his escrima sticks. 'Laurel's targeted the worst of starling city, so it's no surprise his name is on my father's list. The city's police and the D.A. can't stop him- or won't. Laurel thinks she's the only one willing to bring him to justice. She's wrong.' That night on the docks, Somers was railing at his lawyer in his of ice. "You, listen up." He growled. The calm, confident man who had spoken to the press earlier that day was gone. This was the true Martin Somers- jittery, scared. "The longer this goes on, the more likely the media is gonna crucify me. You shut this trial down, do you understand me?" Suddenly the lights flickered of , and the sounds of three arrows impacting their targets could be heard. When the lights came back up, his lawyer and his two bodyguards were down on the ground. "What the hell?" was all he said when suddenly he was grabbed from behind and his world went dark. When he came to, the world seemed to be upside down. As the world came into focus and he saw The Hood standing across from him, though, he realized that it was himself who was upside down, hanging from a crane and swinging like a pendulum. _

 

Everyone in the room was amused by the imagery.

 

_ "Martin Somers! You've failed this city." The Hood intoned, drawing an arrow from his quiver and firing it as the man swung. It just passed by the right side of his head. "No! No, no, no, no, no!" Somers screamed out. The Hood ignored him. "You're gonna testify in that trial. You're gonna confess to having Victor Nocenti killed. There won't a second warning." He warned, drawing another arrow and firing it. The one left a deep cut on his left cheek. Somers cried out in pain, pressing his hand to the cut. When he looked back at where The Hood had been, though, the vigilante was gone. _

 

“That’s just going to make things worse,” Roy pointed out.

“How’s that?” Laurel asked confused.

“Somers is going to try and kill you, Noccenti, Jo, anyone who stands in their way. Oliver should have just killed him,” Roy said darkly.

 

_ Later that night, back at the Queen manor, another interrogation was going on. "I hired you to protect my son." Moira was saying as she paced in front of John Diggle. "Now, I'm not a professional bodyguard, but it seems to me that the first requirement would be managing to stay next to the man you're hired to protect." She pointed out. "With all due respect, ma'am," Diggle tried, "I never had a client who didn't want my protection." "I hired you." Moira pointed out, coming to stop in front of the bodyguard. "That makes me the client." She looked at the man sternly for a moment before resuming her pacing. "Now, where do you think my son is going on these chaperone-less excursions?" "Ma'am, I truly do not know." Dig answered honestly. "And he truly doesn't." a jovial voice called out as Oliver walked into the room. His mother cast him a baleful look. "Then perhaps you'd like to share with me, you know, where it is you run of to." His mother said, exasperated. "I've been alone for five years." Oliver pointed out. "I know that, Oliver." "Mom," he interrupted, shoot her a look. "Alone." He emphasized. Moira put it together after a beat. "I see." She said. _

 

Tommy shook his head. “I can’t believe he's using his past as a cover story,” He said.

“I can,” Laurel responded. “It’s a really good idea. No one will question it because that's how he used to be and no one else knows what he’s been through.”

 

_ I promise to introduce her if it ever gets to the exchanging first names stage…" he started. "No, I'd rather you promise to take Mr. Diggle with you on your next rendezvous." Moira interrupted, walking up to her son. "It's not safe; you've already been abducted once. There is a maniac out there, hunting the wealthy." "That maniac saved my life." Oliver pointed out. "This isn't a game." Moira said. She paused and looked into his eyes. "I lost you once. And I am not going through that again." She stated plaintively. Oliver looked back with genuine remorse. "Okay" He said finally "Dig's my guy." "Thank you." Moira said, and then walked out of the room. Oliver looked up at his body man. "Sorry to give you so much grief." He said. He almost meant it. Dig buttoned up his suite jacket and walked around the couch. "I served three tours in Afghanistan, Mr. Queen. You don't even come close to my definition of grief." He paused in front of Oliver. "But I tell you what- you ditch me one more time, no one will have to fire me." With that he left the room, just as Thea walked past. The girl gave the bodyguard a cursory look before continuing on her way. "Where you going?" Oliver called out. Thea paused, surprised. She hadn't seen him there. "Uh somewhere loud and smoky." She replied, crossing her arms. "And don't bother trying to pickpocket my stash this time, because I'm gonna go get drunk instead." Oliver walked towards his sister, concern on his face. "Thea, do you think this is what dad would want for you?" he asked, trying to get through. "Dead people don't want anything. It's one of the benefits of being dead." No dice. "I was dead.' He pointed out. "And I wanted a lot." "Except for your family." Thea shot back coldly. "You've been home a week and all you do is avoid mom, ignore Walter, and judge me." She cast one last look at him before turning around. "Don't wait up." She said as she walked out of the room. _

 

“And the bitch award goes to… Thea Queen,” Laurel drawled. Thea rolled her eyes but didn’t respond.

 

_ The next day at the docks, Detective Lance was speaking with Martin Somers about what had happened the night before- or, as Somers put it, didn't happen. "Well, I owe you an apology, Mr. Somers." Lance was saying, pacing lightly in front of Somers desk. He noted a hole in the top of the desk and fingered it idly as Somers sat, watching him. "We come all the way down to your docks, and it turns out, you don't need the police after all." "Which is exactly what I've been saying." Somers said. The calm facade was back in place. "Yeah." Lance agreed. "So I guess that 9-1-1 call we got last night from your stevedore, saying that you were getting attacked by a guy in a green hood and a bow and arrow… I guess well, was that a practical joke?" he threw out. Somers smiled tightly. "These guys like to fool around." "Yeah." Lance said again, walking away from the desk and over towards one of the patrol officers who held an evidence bag. "Well, you know, I'd be very much inclined to believe an honest, upstanding businessman like yourself, except, well, one of my men found this at your docks." He pulled out a green arrow and turned around, showing it to Somers. Somers held his gaze impassively. "You see, there's this vigilante running around." Lance continued, coming back to the desk. He perched on the edge, waving the arrow around slightly. "He thinks he's some kind of Robin Hood. He's robbing the rich, he's trying to teach them a lesson I guess. I don't know," he said, then looked back at the other of icers. "I don't know." He repeated, and then looked back at Somers. "But the point is, the man's a killer. And nothing, and no one, is going to stop me from bringing him down." He gently put the arrow in the hole in the desk; it fit perfectly, to no one's surprise. Lance looked up at Somers with a tight smile. "But like you said, clearly, nothing happened here last night." He finished sarcastically. Somers looked back at the cop. "Isn't this a conflict of interest, Detective?" he asked. "After all, your daughter is suing me." "I'm pretty good at keeping my emotions in check." Lance said evenly. "I'm not." Somers said, rage simmering just beneath the surface. He stood and got into Lance's face. "You and your daughter don't want to find out what I'm capable of when I get emotional." He threatened. Lance gave him a disgusted look. Finally, though, he turned and left.  _

 

“That was very dangerous. The triad is sure to kill you now,” Diggle said.

“Yeah that wasn’t the smartest thing for my dad to do,” Laurel agreed.

 

_ The scene changed as we flew over Starling City, right to the Queen Consolidated towers. There were three towers in total- the main tower, which held mostly executive of ices, stood proudly in the front. Directly behind were two, slightly shorter towers, connected by a sky bridge, that held research labs, stock trading areas, and other departments that made up the Queen Consolidated business. "As you can see, Oliver, we've modernized quite a bit." Walter was saying as the elevator opened on the executive level of the main tower. While the elevator banks were set into a rich, green marble, the rest of the floor was all glass and steel. Oliver whistled as Walter led him, Moira and Diggle towards his of ice. Oliver smiled at a cute blonde as he walked past. "Hi." He said. His mother squeezed his arm gently and smiled at her son "Are you enjoying yourself?" she asked. Oliver smiled in return. "Yes, I am." "I remember when your father used to bring you here when you were a boy." Walter said jovially as they all walked into his of ice. Diggle took up position by the door. "You always were so excited." "Dad let me drink soda in the of ice." Oliver revealed. "Ah!" Moira exclaimed happily. "So that's why you enjoyed coming." "Queen Consolidated’s success of late is a result of its targeted diversification." Walter began as Oliver walked around the of ice. "We have been making impressive inroads in cutting-edge fields like bio-tech and clean energy." "That's neat." Oliver interrupted, the called out to Walter's secretary, "Excuse me? Can I get a sparkling water, or something cold, please?" "Sweetheart," Moira said, gesturing at her son. "Oliver, Walter and I have something to discuss with you. Come, please sit." She motioned towards a chair. Oliver looked at her warily. "Mom, it makes me nervous when you ask me to sit down." The three stood awkwardly for a moment, before Walter pressed on. "The company's about to break ground on a new site for the applied sciences division, and we would like to honor your father by dedicating the building in his name." he said. Oliver nodded. "That's nice." He agreed. "And we'd like to make an announcement at the dedication," Moira added, "that you will be taking a leadership position in the company." _

 

“Unbelievable,” Laurel said shaking her head. “She thinks its a good idea to put the man who dropped out of college, has no leadership experience, and was stuck away from civilization for five years a leadership position in the company?”

“Oh mom,” Thea said shaking her head.

 

_ No." Oliver said at once. "Your company." She emphasized. "No, I don't want to lead anything." He shot back firmly, then looked at Walter. "Besides, Walter is doing a very good job here." It was the first…nice….thing Oliver had said to or about Walter since he got back, and the elder businessman was momentarily stunned. "You said that you wanted to be a dif erent person." Moira pressed on. "And you are Robert Queen's son." "I don't need to be reminded of that." He replied coldly. "Well, obviously you do." Walter walked up next to Moira and put a reassuring hand on her back. "Everyone here understands that this transition is really difficult for you." He tried. "Thank you, Walter." Oliver aid, the civility he had tried to build crumbling. "Which part, though? Everyone fantasizing that I got my MBA while I was on the island? Or the fact that my father's CFO now sleeps down the hall from me?" he finished angrily. _

 

“Ouch,” Roy quipped smiling. He was starting to like Oliver more and more.

 

_ His mother looked crestfallen, and turned away from him. Oliver, for his part, looked ashamed at his outburst. Moira walked towards the door, then stopped and turned. "You know, five years ago, your irresponsibility was somewhat charming." She said. "It is a lot less so now." She then turned around and walked out of the room. Walter followed after a moment. Dig looked on, no judgment whatsoever on his face. As a soldier, he knew what it was like to come home to a world you didn't recognize. The two made their way outside and fought through a sea of reporters to the Bentley. Dig got Oliver in, then walked around and got in on the other side. "The driver will be here in a minute." He said as they settled into their seats, the reports still shouting questions outside the car. "Okay." Oliver replied tersely. They were silent for a few moments before Dig spoke. "You know, I spent the first 27 years of my life in Starling City, and the next five in Afghanistan." He started. "You want to know what I learned?" "There's no place like home?" Oliver replied dryly. Dig smiled and shook his head. "No, just the opposite. Home is a battlefield." He explained. "Back home, they're all trying to get you. Get you to open up, be somebody you're not sure you are anymore." He paused and looked at the young man. "Or I could be wrong. Maybe after five years alone, you're not as messed up in the head as you have every right to be." He observed. _

 

“How did you even pick up on that?” Tommy asked surprised.

“I learned to be very observant over the years.” Diggle responded vaguely.

 

_ The scene shifted, and we were back on the Island. Oliver had made a makeshift shelter on the beach and was sleeping, but the loud cries of seagulls woke him. He looked up to see the birds gathered around the raft, and his father's body. "Hey!" he called out, staggering to his feet and running towards the raft. "Hey, get away! Hey!" he shooed the birds away and collapsed onto the side of the raft. His father's body laid there, a life jacket covering the face- and the bullet wound. _

 

The let out a pained cry at the sight of her father’s lifeless corpse.

 

_ The smell of decomposition got to Oliver and he staggered back, vomiting onto the rocky beach. Once done, he slowly moved back towards the raft and knelt beside it once more. "Dad." He said softly. Then, determined, he pulled the body up over his shoulder and stood, then started walking inland to bury his father. _

 

Diggle watched Oliver with respect. It was really hard to bury someone, especially someone you loved, with no help. He remembered a couple of those times from the battlefield.

 

_ Back in the present, Laurel and Joanna were briefing Emily Nocenti on what to expect with the coming trial. "Well, we anticipate that Somers' attorney will try and paint you as blinded by grief or looking to make a buck." Joanna was saying. Emily looked back at the two lawyers in angry disbelief. "This isn't about the money." She argued. "I just want justice for my father." "Emily," Laurel started gently, "there are a lot of people who don't want this trial to proceed. Dangerous people." She explained. Emily just shook her head. "My mother died when I was a baby, and my father has been the only family I've ever known and they slit his throat. They are going to have to kill me if they want me to give this up." She said determinedly. "Well let's hope it doesn't come to that." Laurel responded. "And it won't." the three turned to see Quentin Lance walk in with three patrol officers behind him. "What's going on?" Laurel asked. "What's going on is that the three of you are getting around-the-clock police protection. Okay? Get used to their faces, because they're going with you everywhere you go, no arguments." The last part was directed at his daughter, who looked back at him unimpressed. _

 

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Laurel moaned.

“You should take the protection,” Roy said suddenly. “I lost a couple of friends to the triad, they’re no joke. They will kill you if you keep looking into this.”

 

_ "I'm a lawyer. I live to argue." She stated. "I'm your father. I live to keep you safe." He replied bluntly. Joanna, sensing the building argument between father and daughter, gently took Emily's arm. "Um, Emily, let's go grab a cup of cof ee, okay?" she asked rhetorically. "Yes, why not do that? Thank you." Quentin said, and then gestured to the three cops. "Please, go with them." he said to the first two, who followed the two ladies out of the of ice. He held back the third. "Stay there." He ordered. "Protective custody?" Laurel began, crossing her arms. "I seem to recall you trying that once I discovered boys. It didn't work then, either." "This isn't a joke, Laurel." Quentin said, ignoring his daughters' argument. "Martin Somers got attacked last night." Laurel's dropped as she looked at her father, stunned. "What? By who?" "It doesn't matter." He said, somewhat relieved to see the seriousness of the situation was finally getting through to her. "Point is, you have whipped up a storm with these guys, and until the dust settles you'll be protected, okay? End of discussion." Quentin turned to leave. "That might have worked when I was eight," Laurel argued, some of her defiance finding its' way back, Quentin turned back to his daughter. "But it's not gonna work anymore." "End of discussion, Laurel!" he insisted sternly. "You're insistent on doing your job, that's great. But this is me doing mine, okay? And not just as a father, but as a cop. These people, they are more dangerous than you are willing to admit. And you've made them angry." He finished, turning and walking out. _

 

“Your dad is right,” Tommy said.

“Who are you and what have you done with Tommy Merlyn?”

“I just don’t want to see you get hurt,” Tommy said sincerely looking into her eyes. She reached over and grabbed his hand.

“I’ll be fine. I promise,” She told him firmly.

 

_ Later that evening on the docks, a stunning Asian woman in a red dress and stark white hair walked into Somer's office. _

 

“Oh my god, thats China White!” Diggle exclaimed.

“Who’s that?” Laurel asked.

“That is the top paid assassin for the triad. I sincerely hope you have police protection if she’s the one they’re sending after you.”

 

_ "Thank you for coming." He said. The woman walked up to the desk and gave a cold smile. "Anything for a friend." China White said amicably. "We're not friends." Somers countered. "You smuggle drugs, I let you use my port." "For which you're paid a lot of money." She responded. "I don't get paid enough to have arrows shot at me." He shot back. "You need to take this guy seriously. He is a bigger threat to your operation than Nocenti ever was." "Except now it's Nocenti's daughter who's the problem." China White stated. "Unlike your friend with the hood, we know where to find her." "Don't be an idiot." Somers snarled at the woman. "You take out Emily Nocenti, and Laurel Lance will never let this go. She won't stop until she burns you, me, and then the entire Triad to the ground." China White smiled coldly. "Then we kill Miss Lance." _

 

Everyone turned and looked at Laurel. She closed her eyes in annoyance. 

“Okay, fine you were right,” she said.

 

_ The next morning, Oliver was getting dressed in his room as he watched the news. 'Attorney for shipping magnate, Martin Somers, has confirmed his client has no intention of testifying, maintaining his innocence in the wrongful death of Victor Nocenti. Nocenti's body was found four weeks ago. We'll keep you updated as more information becomes available.' He glowered at the screen; obviously Somers hadn't quite got his message. He started to put his shirt on when a voice from his open door startled him. Thea had come to talk to her brother, not bothering to knock as the door had been open. Before she could speak, she saw the scars the marred his back. "Wait, how did you get those?" she asked, coming into the room. Oliver grimaced in angered annoyance as he tried to cover up. "Don't you knock?" he growled. "No." Thea declared, stalking into the room and forcing her brother to turn around. "Wait, Mom said that there were scars, but…" she gently pried the edges of his shirt from his hands and pulled it open to reveal even more scars on his chest. She stared in horror, a dawning realization of what he must have gone through finally coming upon her. "I'm-" she started, took a breath, and then started over. "Oliver, what happened to you out there?" Oliver took a few moments to compose himself, pulling his shirt free from his sister and buttoning it. "I don't want to talk about it." He said. Thea scof ed. "Of course you don't." she said angrily. "You never want to talk to me about anything. Except for my social life." She started to leave. _

 

“People don’t always want to talk about traumatic experiences, Thea. It might actually cause flashbacks or nightmares. I agree he should talk to someone about it, but it's not a good idea to push him.” Diggle said firmly.

 

_ “Wait!" he called out, stopping her in her tracks. "Where are you going?" he asked. Thea crossed her arms in defiance. "Why should I tell you?" she demanded. Oliver took a breath, trying to find the words. "I'm sorry, Thea." He finally said. "I need to get better at talking about what happened to me there. But I'm not ready yet." He looked Thea in the eye, imploring her silently to understand. "Okay?" Thea stared at her brother for a long moment. "Do you have a second?" she asked finally. "Yeah." "Good. I wanna show you something out back." She turned and walked out of the room; Oliver grabbed his jacket and followed. Soon they were walking out onto the backyard of the manor. Thea led him to a clearing where two headstones had been erected. One read: Robert Queen 1958-2007 A leader, a husband The second read: Oliver Queen 1985-2007 A loving son and brother, whose light was diminished far too soon "Sometimes, when I felt… whatever, I'd come here." She said, coming to a stop in front of the headstones. She knelt down in front of Roberts's stone and brushed away some stray leaves. "About a month after the funerals, mom stopped going out. Pretty soon, she stopped talking altogether. The house got so quiet, so I'd come here." She stood and walked over to Oliver's stone. She pointed at it. "To talk to you." She was trying her best not to cry, but it was hard. "I mean, stupid stuff . Like what I was doing that day, what boy I had a crush on. And then sometimes, I'd ask you, beg you, to find your way home to me." She looked back to her brother. "Now, here you are. And the truth is, I felt closer to you when you were dead. Look, I know it was hell where you were. But it was hell here too.” _

 

“Ok I shouldn’t have said that,” Thea said cringning. Whatever had happened to her those five years were nothing compared to what happened to Ollie.

 

_ “You gotta let me in, Ollie." She implored. "You gotta let someone in." she turned and walked away, leaving Oliver standing there at the markers. He stared down at his own, taking in everything she had said. The scene shifted to later that night in Laurel's apartment. She was looking over her notes for the Nocenti case on her laptop as she finished of a TV dinner when a knock at her door startled her. She paused, thinking she had miss heard, and then heard the knocking again. Cautiously, her father's warning still fresh in her mind, she approached the door and looked out the peephole. She opened the door a moment later to see Oliver standing there, brown paper bag in hand. "Hi." He said awkwardly. "Are you okay? There are two cop cars outside." "How am I supposed to stay away from you if you won't stay away from me?" she asked sarcastically. "What are you doing here, Ollie?" she demanded. "My sister took," he paused, rethinking his words. "She pointed out to me that I have been distant since I got back and that It would probably be a good idea if I let somebody in." "So, you thought you'd start with the first person you pushed away." Laurel pointed out. "I did that to protect you." Oliver reasoned, and then pushed on. "And then I saw you yesterday, and I realized that I hurt you." Laurel glowered at him, but finally stood aside and allowed him to enter. "Thank you." He said sincerely. He looked around the apartment. "Wow. This place hasn't changed in five years." "I haven't really had time to redecorate." Laurel snarked as she walked past him. "I'm a jerk." He announced, bringing her up short. "Before the island, I was a jerk, and now I'm just a… I'm a damaged jerk." He finished lamely. Laurel turned around and looked at him, then decided to take pity on her ex-boyfriend. "What's in the bag?" she asked. Oliver smiled, reaching into the bag. "I thought about many things on the island, but there was one thing that I thought about every day." His smile grew, and he laughed slightly at the memory. "I actually dreamed about it, and I promised myself that if I ever got a chance to do it again, I'd do it with you." He pulled out a tub of mint chocolate chip ice cream. "Eat ice cream." He stated, and Laurel smiled. “Ice cream, yeah. I’d miss it to.” Tommy mused. A short time later, Laurel was eating her ice cream out of a bowl, while Oliver just dug into the carton with his spoon. "This is as good as I remember." He said, smiling. After a moment, he spoke again. "My mother wants me to join the company." At her look, "Yeah. Take my rightful place." "I can't exactly picture you as master of the universe." Laurel remarked, not meanly, but honestly. Oliver smiled tightly. "You know, after five years, I have plans." He announced. "I have things that I have to do. I can't do that if I'm, I don't know… attending board meetings and stockholder briefings." "Oliver?" Laurel said. At his look, "You're an adult. You can say no." "Oh, I tried." He pointed out. "Didn't take." "Well, then don't tell her. Show her." She reasoned. "Be the person that you want her to see you as." _

 

“That is going to backfire on me,” Laurel said regretfully. 

“No doubt,” Tommy agreed.

 

_ "Trust me. I have plenty of experience with disapproving parents." "I have been on the receiving end of your father's disapproval." He agreed. "He blames himself more than he blames you." She said suddenly, leaning back into the couch. "He thinks that, you know, maybe if he and Sara were closer, she would have told him about the boat trip. And he could have stopped her from going with you." “No one could’ve stopped Sara. When she set her mind to something, there was no talking her out of it.” Tommy told Laurel and she sighed. “I’d tried telling my dad that but he won’t listen.” Laurel admitted. Oliver looked at her sadly. "I am sorry." He said again. "You apologized already." Laurel replied. "And it'll never be enough." They sat in silence, but then Oliver heard a noise. "Did you hear that?" "What?" Laurel asked, confused. Oliver grabbed the knife he had used to open the ice cream carton; it was dull, but it would work in a pinch. "There's someone on the fire escape." Slowly he climbed to his feet, listening. He heard more noises, so he grabbed Laurel's hand, pulling her up. "Hey, come on." "What?" she asked in confusion, even as he pulled her towards the door. They were halfway there when it crashed open, a large Asian man with an Uzi stumbling in after. _

 

Tommy instinctively looked up at Laurel, making sure that she was ok. He grabbed onto her hand. As the assault in the memory continued.

 

_ Oliver turned and pulled Laurel deeper into the apartment, ducking a spray of bullets as he made their way towards her bedroom. He pulled her back when another figure came crashing in through her window from the fire escape. They kept low as they searched for a way out, even as Oliver looked for an opening to attack without revealing too much. He came up short as China White stalked into the room, twin knives held at the ready. Suddenly more gunfire erupted, this time from Diggle as he stormed into the room. The first gunman went down quickly, as did the second. But China White proved too fast; she disarmed Dig in seconds. He in turn relieved her of one of her knives, and parried several thrusts with his hands, his special forces training evident. But China White was again too fast; she took him down and prepared to stab him. As she brought her knife up for a killing blow, Oliver flipped the dinner knife in his hand and threw it hard, knocking the blade out of the Asian woman's hand. She looked up in surprise, and then decided discretion was the better part of valor and scrambled out the ruined door. _

 

“Oh thank god,” Thea said releasing a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

 

_ Laurel ran into Oliver's arms, crying in terror even as Dig clambered to his feet, grabbing his gun on the way up. He looked to his client. "Are you hurt? Are you hurt, Mr. Queen?!" he yelled. "No! No." Oliver replied, stunned himself by what had transpired. "This is why it's a good idea to have a bodyguard!" Dig remarked as he moved to check the rest of the apartment, even as Oliver checked over Laurel. A short time later, cops were removing the dead men from Laurel's apartment as Quentin Lance ran in. He looked around for a moment, out of breath, before he spotted his daughter. He ran to her and pulled her into a hug. "Daddy!" she said, still frightened. "Oh, thank God." Quentin said, relieved. "Thank God. Are you alright?" "I'm okay." She assured him, then asked the question she really didn't want the answer to. "Those cops that you put on me…" she trailed of . "They…" he started, hesitantly, and was saved when Diggle answered for him. "I went outside to ask for a light, and they were both dead in the squad car." _

 

Laurel hung her head guiltily. “Hey,” Tommy said forcing her to look into his eyes. “That is not your fault ok?” He said. Laurel nodded as Tommy squeezed her hand. 

 

_ Quentin looked at the bodyguard in gratitude. "Mr. Diggle, thank you." He said. "Feel free to run as many red lights in the city as you want." "I was just doing my job, sir." Dig assured him. Quentin shook his head. "No, your job is protecting him." He looked at Oliver. He stalked up close to the man. "It seems like whenever you're with one of my daughters, people die." He snarled. "You stay away from Laurel, or I swear the next time you disappear, it will be permanent." _

 

“He just threatened to kill someone and he’s a cop.” Roy said shaking his head. “But he’ll get off without consequences.”

 

_ "Dad!" Laurel exclaimed. "No, Laurel..." the Detective started, but was cut of by Oliver. "It's okay." Oliver said. "I understand." "Yeah." Quentin said, moving back to his daughter. Later that evening back at the Manor, Dig was sitting on the sofa nursing his injured hand. Oliver walked in, tossing the man an ice pack. "Here!" he said "I'd say thank you, but I don't think that would cover it." "Well, like I told your cop friend, I was just doing my job." Dig replied, standing. "Besides, I think it should be you that I'm thanking." Oliver looked at him in confusion. "What for?" he asked. "The knife." Dig said simply. Oliver nodded in understanding. "The knife." He said. "I got lucky." "That was a kitchen knife." Dig argued. "It wasn't even weighted properly, yet you threw it with accuracy across a 10-foot room." "Exactly." Oliver said. "I got lucky." Diggle stepped up to the man, though kept far enough away to be respectful. "I'm not the kind of man you want to take for a fool, Mr. Queen, you understand me?" he stated. "Yes." Oliver agreed. "And I think I'm just beginning to understand the kind of man you are." Dig said observantly. "Shouldn't take you very long. I'm shallow." Oliver quipped. "And very tired, so good night." With that, Oliver headed to his room. "Good night, sir." Diggle called out, still nursing the hand. The scene shifted to the Foundry, where Oliver was busy getting his gear on. 'I wanted to give Martin Somers the chance to confess and face a court's justice, but he chose to go after someone I care about instead.' His voice intoned as he got out his bow. 'He's still going to face justice. It'll just be a different kind.' _

 

“Well Somer’s is screwed now,” Thea noted.

 

_ The scene shifted again to the docks, where Martin Somers was hurriedly stuffing bundles of cash into a case. "Triad bitch screwed up the hit on Lance." He growled to his bodyguard. "Now, the Triad is gonna erase every ounce of evidence of their smuggling operation, including me. Except that's not gonna happen." He closed up the case and looked back to his man. "Tell Wallace to get the boat ready." He ordered. "I'm leaving tonight." "Wallace? Wallace, you copy?" the man asked into his radio. There was no response. "Wallace?" “Wallace isn't here.” A familiar voice sounded on the radio, and Somer's face filled with dread as he recognized The Arrow. “But I am.” "We need to move, now." He ordered. "Move!" "Sir, we've got six men out there." The man argued, but Somers pulled him along. "It's not enough. Move it!" he ordered as they ran out of the building. Back at Laurel's apartment, Quentin was busy laying down the law, so to speak, to his daughter. "You're gonna go back into that courtroom tomorrow and you're gonna recuse yourself from this case, all right?" he demanded. "Or drop it. Either way, you're done." "If you think I'm gonna abandon Emily Nocenti, then you don't know me all that well." Laurel shot back. "You don't know me well, young lady." Quentin countered. "I will lock you in a cell if that's what it takes." Laurel rose from the couch and shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I guess that's what it's gonna take then." She said walking away. "Damn it, Laurel!" Quentin shouted, his voice cracking from fear. "I thought after what happened with Sara, you'd stop being just so reckless!" "It's not about being reckless!" she shouted back heatedly. "It's just the opposite. I'm trying to make this city safer, just like you." "Sweetie." He tried, coming up to her. "You're my only daughter, Laurel. You're all I have left to live for." _

 

Laurel shook her head. She couldn’t imagine what was going on in her father’s head. But she couldn’t just drop the case. She couldn’t let a killer get away without facing justice.

 

_ "But what you want from me isn't living." She countered again, near tears. "Having cops around, not being able to do my job…" "Your job is not going after people like the Triad! Or Somers…" "My job is to use the law to fight for what is right. Just like you taught me." "Well, that's dirty." Quentin said brokenly. "Using me against me. You can't do that." He argued. "Well maybe I picked that up along the way, too." Laurel joked softly. Lance let out a soft laugh. Suddenly his phone went of . "Lance." He said answering it. He listened for a moment. "I'll be right there." He said, hanging up. He looked at his daughter. "I gotta go." He said. "Something's going on at the docks." At the docks, it was pandemonium as The Hood leapt from walkway to walkway, staying one step ahead of the guards bullets and taking them out, one at a time. He spied Somers running into a building as he killed the last guard. "Somers!" he shouted, jumping down to the ground and following him. In the building, Somers was running as fast as he could, trying to get away. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't fast enough. An arrow pinned him to a crate at the far end of the room. "Oh, God, no, no, no…" he cried out as The Hood stalked up, nocking another arrow. "He can't help you." The Hood growled. "I want the truth about Victor Nocenti." He let the arrow fly; pinning is right shoulder to the crate. "I can't! The Triad will kill me." "The Triad's not your concern right now!" The Hood snarled. At Somers reluctance, he let another arrow fly, right below the man's crotch. _

 

Tommy, Roy, and Diggle all cringed at the sight.

 

_ "All right, all right, all right!" Somers cried out. "It wasn't me that killed him. It was the Triad." He sobbed. "Acting on whose instructions? Whose?" he shouted, shooting another arrow right above the man's head. "All right, all right! It was mine." He confessed. "It was mine, all right? Nocenti said he was gonna testify against me." Suddenly he saw something over the vigilante's shoulder and paled even further. The Hood spun, and arrow nocked as he came face to face with China White. _

 

“Can Oliver beat her?” Laurel asked unsure.

“I don’t know yet,” Diggle responded nervously.

 

_ "Cóng tā shēnshang yí kāi" She demanded in Mandarin. "Ràng wǒ." He replied in flawless Mandarin. She came at him hard, knives flashing. He parried each blow with his bow. A kick sent him to the ground, but he was quickly up and blocking her again. In a battle of skills, The Hood was good- but China White was just a bit better. Another kick sent him sprawling to the ground, when suddenly a voice blared over a loudspeaker. 'This is the Police! Put down your weapons or we will open fire. I repeat, lay down your weapons!' _

 

“I never thought I’d say this but thank god for the police,” Roy said. Thea rolled her eyes at his antics.

 

_ The two warriors spared one another a glance, and then both took of to opposite exits. The Hood made his way outside, tossing his bow on top of a shipping container and clambering up after it. Gabbing the bow, he leapt of . He started to run to where he had hidden his motorcycle when- "Freeze!" Lance yelled, coming out from between two containers with his gun drawn. The Hood froze, his head down so that his hood hid his face. "You twitch and you're dead." He promised, moving a bit closer. "Bow down, hands up." They stood there for a few moments, a silent battle of wills playing out. Then suddenly, The Hood pulled a flechette out of his thigh quiver and threw it side-handed. It knocked the gun from Lance's hand and pinned it to the shipping crate a few feet behind the Detective. Lance gasped, looking at his hand in disbelief, and then at his gun hanging from the crate. When he turned back to look, The Hood was gone. _

 

“That was close,” Tommy said releasing a breath.

 

_ Lance looked back at his gun, then noticed the flechette had some kind of device attached to the shaft. It looked to be a recording device, its indicator light blinking green. Lance cautiously hit the play button 'All right, all right! It was mine!" Martin Somers voice cried out. 'It was mine, all right? Nocenti said he was gonna testify against me…' _

 

“Got him,” Laurel said smiling.

 

_ Lance looked at the recording device in disbelief- The Arrow had managed to tape Somer's confession. "You son of a bitch." He said as his fellow of icer finally made it to the scene. Back at the Foundry, Oliver was putting his gear away. 'Laurel was right.' His voice said. 'I can't be the Oliver my mother wants me to be and still keep the promise I made to my father. I have to be the person I need them to see me as.' The scene changed to the next day, at the site for the new Applied Sciences Center groundbreaking. A crowd milled around as Moira and Thea stood on the stage. "Oh! Excuse me, ladies." Tommy said, weaving through the crowd until he found his target. "Okay, this is a surprise." He said to Laurel, who shot him an amused look. "Did you show up here by mistake?" "By invitation." She clarified. "Oliver invited me last night." "Last night?" Laurel smiled. "Is that surprise or jealousy I'm hearing?" she asked playfully. "Look, I just don't want him to find out anything, okay?" Tommy said. "Oliver has been through a lot." "Tommy, we've all been through a lot." She pointed out. _

 

This time it was Laurel’s turn to cringe at her future self’s comments.

 

_ Their conversation was cut short by Walter, who took the stage. "Good afternoon, and thank you all for coming." He began. "Welcome to the future site of the Robert Queen Memorial Applied Sciences Center." There was polite applause. "Now, this is a building that will stand as a monument to the man whose company, and vision, are his greatest legacies." "Whoa! Whoa!" a voice called out. Everyone turned to see Oliver, dressed in suit without a tie and obviously drunk. He paused by a waitress to take another drink and quickly downed it, give her the glass back. "What about me? Right? I'm a legacy." he said, managing to pull himself up on the stage, much to Thea's disgust and embarrassment. "Hey! Thanks for warming them up, Walt." He took the gold shovel from Walter and gently pushed him aside to stand in front of the podium as the crowd started whispering amongst themselves. "All right. I got it, I got it." He smiled for the cameras. "Some of you may not know me. My name is Oliver Queen. Watch some television, read a newspaper, I'm kind of famous right now. Mostly, though, I'm famous because I'm Robert Queen's son." Moira's face fell as Thea looked on, unbelieving. "Uh, but as Walter, who's my new dad Huh? Who is… sorry. As Walter was saying, I'm not much of a legacy, per se." "Oliver, you don't have to do this." Walter said quietly, trying to guide the drunk man away from the podium. Oliver waved him of . "No, sit. Sit! Gosh."' Walter reluctantly sat down, and Oliver turned back to the microphone. "See, I was supposed to come here today, and I'm supposed to take my rightful place at the company. Prodigal son returns home and becomes the heir apparent." He almost seemed to instantly sober up, the resentments he usually kept buried coming to the surface. "But I'm not my father. I'm not the man he was. I'm not half the man he was. I never will be. So, please, stop asking me to be." His point made, he planted the shovel in the mound of dirt besides the stage, then walked past his stunned family, Thea still shooting him a look, though it was more sad than anything else. He jumped of the stage and walked of , not saying another word. _

 

“And he took my advice. I don’t think that’s exactly how I meant it though.” Laurel said shaking her head.

 

_ The scene shifted, and now a news report was playing as footage of police cars at the docks played. 'Martin Somers, the CEO of Starling port, was arrested last night for the murder of Victor Nocenti. He is also being accused of accepting cash, including over $10 million in bribes.' Joanna turned of the news and looked back to Emily Nocenti as they, with Laurel stood in the CNRI of ices. "Well, we can pursue the civil suit if you want, but the D.A. now has no choice, with Mr. Somers' confession, to prosecute him." Joanna explained to the smiling girl. "He's going to jail, Emily." Laurel added. "For the rest of his life." "Thank you so much for fighting for us." Emily said, shaking their hands. Laurel smiled back at her. "Well, thank you for being brave enough to let me." Emily turned and walked out, just as Quentin Lance came in. "Hey." He said, smiling at his daughter. Laurel rolled her eyes and moved back to her desk. "I thought I didn't need police protection anymore." "I thought I didn't need a reason to see my own daughter." He countered. Laurel sat down and smiled. "You don't." she looked him over. "You look tired." "Yeah, I was filling out reports on the shootout at the port last night." Quentin explained. "And getting grilled about how I let that archer get away." "I have to admit, I'm kind of glad he did." Laurel said quietly. "He brought down Martin Somers." "He hurt a bunch of people doing it, okay?" Quentin pointed out. "He is no hero. He is an anarchist." "Yeah, well, whoever he is, it seems like he's trying to help." Laurel noted. "The city doesn't need that kind of help, okay?" Quentin said, somewhat heatedly. "It's like I always told you, you don't need to go outside the law to find justice. Now I believe that. All right?" Laurel looked up at her father as he continued. "And I promise you, when I catch this guy, he's gonna believe it, too." _

 

“I’d just like to point out that without the vigilante, the triad would have probably tried to kill Laurel again and this time, she’d actually be dead. The rules need to be broken sometimes to find any semblance of justice.” Roy said darkly.

Laurel nodded in agreement. “My dad isn’t thinking clearly.”

 

_ The scene changed to Oliver's room, where he pulled out his father's book and crossed Martin Somers of the List. Oliver stared at the far wall, remembering. We flash back to the Island, where a struggling Oliver carried his father's body to the top of a ridge overlooking the bay. He gently laid the body down and collapsed next to it. He began to arrange the body so he could bury it, when he noticed something in pocket of his dad's jacket. Reaching in, he pulled out a small, tan notebook. He flipped through it, noticing that all of the pages appeared to be blank. However, he noticed some kind of strange marking on the inside cover, and he stared at it in puzzlement. Back in the present, a long black limo pulled up next to a silver sedan on an abandoned stretch of road. Moira got out of the sedan and entered the limo. She closed the door and looked to the other occupant. _

 

“Wait that’s my dad’s limo. What the hell is going on?” Tommy said as he watched the scene unfold.

 

_ "Well, you saw for yourself. My son knows nothing." She stated plainly, taking of her sunglasses. "Robert didn't tell him anything that could hurt us. And he has no idea that the yacht was sabotaged." _

 

A collective gasp was heard in the room. It made sense. The gambit shouldn’t have gone down in a category two storm. But suspecting it and it being confirmed were two different things. The question in everyone’s mind was why.

 

_ The second figure said nothing, even as he held up a small notebook to examine it. On the inside cover was the same symbol that was in Robert's book. Back at the Manor, when stood a respectful distance away as Oliver approached the two tombstones. Ignoring his own, he knelt down in front of his father's. In his hands he held the notebook. "All that time on the island, plotting my return, I didn't realize how hard it would be." He began hesitantly. "To reconnect with Mom, Thea… Laurel….okay, I didn't," he paused for a breath, fighting to hold back his tears. "I didn't know how painful it would be to keep my secrets." "You asked me to save the city." He continued. "To right your wrongs. I will. I swear. But to do that, I can't be the Oliver that everyone wants me to be," he explained sadly, "which means that sometimes to honor your wishes I need to dishonor your memory. I'm sorry." He finished with a whisper. Oliver took a few moments to compose himself, then stood. "Take it down." He told the workmen, jabbing a thumb towards his own tombstone. The two men went to work as Oliver approached the car, and Diggle, who had stood silent watch. "Will you be going out tonight, sir?" he asked as Oliver got in the car. "Definitely." Oliver replied as the door closed. Back on the island, Oliver was placing the last stone on the cairn he had entombed his father's body in. He stood to inspect his work. There was a sudden whooshing sound and Oliver screamed in pain. Looking down at his right shoulder, he stared unbelievingly at the arrow that had pierced him from behind. _

 

“Oh Ollie,” Laurel whispered in horror as she saw him fall.

 

_ He screamed in pain once more, collapsing next to the grave. He looked around, and in the distance behind him saw a figure. All he could make out through the haze of pain was a green hood as the figure readied another arrow. "No, no…" he said weakly. Then he said no more as he passed out from the pain. _

 

“Oh my god,” Tommy said as he watched his best friend recieve his first scar.

“Why did that have to happen to Ollie?” Thea asked tears streaming down her face. “Why would someone kill my dad?”

“I don’t know, I guess we have to finish all the memories to find out. Are you ok?” Diggle asked.

When Thea nodded in confirmation, he pressed the play button as the next memory set began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What'd you think? I will try to update at least twice a week (hopefully more) depending on my softball schedule. Let me know any suggestions for upcoming chapters. Until next time.


	3. Lone Gunman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group watches episode three of season one. More future characters are introduced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
> 
> WARNING: There is Felicity hate in this chapter.

_The scene opens with Oliver in the Foundry. He's working out, as per his usual, though this time he's using cement blocks and chains as a makeshift weight station._

           

“Well don’t I feel inferior,” Tommy said uncomfortably. Laurel nodded but she wasn’t really paying attention to him. Her eyes were glued to the Oliver on screen.

           

 _'My Name is Oliver Queen.' His voice sounded over his workout. 'To my family, I am the brother and son who just returned home after being lost at sea 5 years ago. They don't know I came back with a mission, to bring justice to our city, and they never can.' He pulled the chain taught, holding the cement blocks up in the air several feet for a few seconds, then let them drop. The blocks shattered on the hard concrete floor. Oliver toweled off and moved over to his workbench, pulling up some information on his computer._        

_'The men and women I've targeted are dangerous, corrupt; a virulent cancer. Cancers like James Holder, whose corporation put defective smoke detectors in low-income housing in The Glades.'_

 

“My best friend died in one of those fires, I hope your brother puts an arrow in him,” Roy said coldly.

“CNRI was dealing with a couple of these cases. But that bastard paid off anyone willing to testify so he got off scot-free.” Laurel said angrily. Even her boss had been paid on that one. She had been forbidden to accept any legal case regarding the fires.

“Yeah. Even mom hates his guts and we’ve all seen the kind of woman she is,” Thea said bitterly. She hadn’t forgotten the fact that her mom had Oliver kidnapped.

_He pulled out his father's notebook and flipped through its pages until he found Holder's name. 'There have been many fires and too many funerals. But cancers can be fought and conquered.' He opened his munitions box and pulled out his bow, testing its flexibility and looking for any significant damage. He found none. 'All it takes is a surgeon and the right instrument.' With that thought, he moved back to his bench to string his bow and prepare for his night's meeting with James Holder._

_The scene changed to the rooftop pool of Holder's penthouse. He was in a bathrobe, drinking a beer getting ready for a swim as he talked on his phone to a colleague._

_"Heh." He laughed at something the other person said. "Other than the bill I got handed this_ _morning by my legal team, I'm feeling pretty good. Plus, now that this lawsuits’ been settled, we can focus our attention on Unidac Industries." He listened for a moment. "Ok. I'll see you in the office first thing." He cut the connection and tossed the phone onto a poolside couch. He took a breath and looked around the skyline, then brought the bottle of beer up to take a drink-_

_And it was shattered by an arrow._

_"I have armed security inside." He threatened. "All I have to do is call out."_

_"Go ahead." The Hood replied, tossing the two guns he had liberated from their owners to the deck. "They can't hear you."_

While Tommy agreed that the hood had been doing some good, he hadn’t forgotten that his best friend was a murderer. He had killed with ease as if it were a simple task in his daily routine. Get up, eat breakfast, work, commit first-degree murder, have dinner, and go back to bed. Tommy shivered at the thought. As much of an ass hole as James Holder was, his security hadn’t done anything wrong. Hopefully, Ollie had left them alive.

 

_"What the hell do you want?" Holder demanded._

_"How many people died in those fires?" The Hood growled. "How many?! The courts say you don't owe your victims anything; I disagree. James Holder, you-" Before he could finish, a shot rang out, and a bloody wound appeared on Holder's chest, right where his heart was._

“Holy shit!” Roy yelled as the sound of the gunshot was heard.

“What the hell just happened?” Thea yelled surprised.

“Looks like Holder had more than one enemy,” Diggle noted.

 

_As Holder's lifeless body was falling into the pool, The Hood spun around and started firing arrows towards where he believed the shooter was. He ducked down behind a low wall just as two more shots rang out. One pierced the wall and into his arm; the other missed entirely. Then it was silent. Oliver looked to the pool to see Holder's body slowly sinking to the bottom, then he glanced over the wound on his arm with a frown._

_The scene shifted back to the lair as Oliver extracted the bullet, and then sewed up the wound. Once finished, he put on a shirt and got up, moving over to his workbench and opening the notebook._

_'It's no surprise a man as corrupt as James Holder has more than one enemy.' His voice said as he crossed Holder's name off the list. He sat back in his chair, a look of discomfort playing over his face. He suddenly got to his feet, and then staggered into the table. He caught himself on the edge and barely stopped himself from falling down._

“What’s wrong with him?” Laurel asked worriedly. The bullet had only grazed Oliver so he couldn’t have lost enough blood to pass out. He hadn’t gotten hit on the head or injured in any way. What was going on?

“I don’t know,” Roy said staring intently at the screen.

_'The bullet.' He thought as he staggered over to the other bench, digging around in the surgeon's pan for the offending piece of metal. 'Poison!' he realized._

_He grabbed a water bottle and sprinted to his munitions crate, practically sliding into is as he crashed to the floor. He deftly undid the lock and dug around for something, finally pulling out a small leather pouch filled with mysterious herbs. He took a large pinch of the herbs and threw them into his mouth, then started chewing them as he opened the water bottle and took a drink. Once done, he collapsed to the ground, unconscious._

“Why the hell is he concerned about a cocktail instead of the poison in his body?” Tommy yelled.

“Relax,” A voice said from the doorway. Dinah reentered the room taking a seat on the couch in the back of the viewing room. “He’s going to be fine.”

 

_The scene flashed back to the island, where Oliver awoke in a cave. Groggily and in pain, he looked around, then down to see the arrow still sticking out of his shoulder._

                                               

Diggle winced in sympathy. While he himself had never been shot with an arrow, he’s taken a couple of bullets and a grenade. They hurt like hell.

 

_Oliver groaned in pain as he struggled to sit up, but he stopped moving as another man entered the cave. He was a thin Asian man, with a scraggly beard and long, stringy black hair that was partially obscured by the green hood he wore. He carried a bow and on his back was a quiver filled with arrows._

“That is a very familiar hood,” Roy noted. “Who is this guy?”

“Yao Fei.” Dinah stated simply as if it answered the question in its entirety.

 

_"Who are you?" Oliver asked, frightened. "Why did you shoot me?"  
"Wèile bǎohù nín." The man replied in Mandarin. He kneeled down besides the boy and held out a handful of herbs and a small bowl with water. He indicated to Oliver to take the herbs and water. "Yǐnliào." He said in Mandarin. Oliver finally got the hint and, taking a small pinch of the herbs, put them in his mouth. He choked slightly on the acrid taste and quickly down the water. After he finished drinking, the man grasped the arrow and pulled it out through his shoulder, causing Oliver to cry out in pain once more._

 

Thea had to look away from the screen and Laurel closed her eyes trying not to gag. Roy seemed to be disturbed by the arrow being pulled out while Diggle tried to imagine the pain Oliver must’ve been going through.

 

 _Back in the present, Oliver gasped as he regained consciousness. The first thing he noticed was sunlight streaming down upon him; the second thing was an alarm. He looked up at his computer monitor, and the clocked that showed 7:10 on its face. Cursing to himself, he shot to his feet and grabbed his jacket to head home._  
The scene changed to Queen Manor. Oliver walked in through the house, shaking his arm in slight pain. He slowed as he approached the sitting room, where Moira and Walter were talking with two cops as Thea sat glumly on the sofa.  
"What happened?" Oliver asked Diggle, who was standing watch in the doorway. "Thea ok?"  
The bodyguard turned to face him. "The cops brought her home." He explained. "Her and some of her friends broke into a store, tried on some dresses last night. Lit up the breathalyzer like a Christmas tree."

 

“THEA!” Laurel and Tommy shouted simultaneously. The wanted to disappear.

“Why does it keep showing me?” She whined.

“So that’s how the rich people live huh?” Roy scoffed.

“You are NOT helping,” Laurel said shooting Roy a warning look.

 

 _Diggle looked the younger man over. "So how was your evening, sir?" he asked dryly._  
"You mean after I said I had to go to the bathroom at dinner and never came back?" Oliver shot back glibly.  
"I guess from now on I'll be watching you pee." He replied.

 

Everyone burst out laughing while Dinah just gave a small smile. Even though she’d seen these memories a million times each, it was always funny to see Diggle and Oliver’s interactions pre-secret reveal.

 

 _The two stared at each other for several moments before Oliver moved past him to Thea, a small smile on his face that rapidly disappeared._  
"Thank you, officers. My wife and I appreciate it." Walter was saying to the cops. "I'll see you out." The tall Brit walked the two cops out of the room as Moira turned to her delinquent daughter.  
"Last time it was public intoxication." She started, "This time breaking and entering. My, how we are moving up in the criminal world."  
Thea tiredly got to her feet. "You know, when you pay off the store owner, you should check out the merchandise. They got some pretty killer outfits." She replied sarcastically.  
"Thea, go get ready for school." Moira said. Thea gave her a look.  
"Uh, you know, I was thinking of taking a sick day." She stated, silently daring her mother to argue. Moira didn't.  
"Fine, then get some sleep." She said wearily.  


“Seriously!?” Tommy asked annoyed.

“My mom hasn’t really been a mom in years, Tommy. This shouldn't be a shock. She doesn’t give a damn about me.”

“Thea that’s not true,” Laurel said putting a comforting hand on the teen’s shoulder.

 

 _Thea gave her a sarcastic smile as she sauntered out of the room._  
"You look like crap." She told her brother on the way out.  
Oliver looked at his mother in disbelief. "You're letting her play hooky?" he asked. Moira sighed. "When your sister gets like this, it's best to give her space."  
"She's testing you." Oliver reasoned.  
"Yes. Who'd she learn that from?" Moira pointed out.  
"Mom, when I was her age, you and dad let me get away with murder." He said. "Looking back, I could have used less space and more parenting." Oliver turned and left, leaving a contemplative Moira behind.  


“How is it that the sanest and responsible person in your family has a night job as a murderous vigilante?” Laurel asked.

“He’s not a murderer,” Dinah said glaring down at her younger self. “He’s a survivor. He did what he had to and he only used killing as a last resort.” Laurel stared at her older self in shock.

“How on earth can you, me, ever condone murder? It goes against everything we were ever taught!”

“When you see what happened to him you’ll understand. And to be honest, I wish he had kept killing. There was… something that happened. After year one Ollie stopped killing. If he had continued maybe things would be different.”

“But he killed!”

Dinah shook her head at Laurel’s naive viewpoints.

“Nothing in this world is black and white. We live in a world of grey. We have to accept that,” Dinah said sighing before resuming the memories.

 

 _The scene shifted to Holder's penthouse swimming pool, where the coroners were busying fishing the corrupt businessman's body out of. Detective's Lance and Hilton looked on._  
"It doesn't make sense." Lance was saying to his partner.  
"Holder fits the profile." Hilton replied. "Wealthy dirtbag. Red meat for the Hood. And we recovered at least one arrow." He offered.  
"Yeah, only this time the cause of death is a double tap through the heart and our perp doesn't use firearms." Lance pointed out.  
"Maybe he's finally figured out there's easier ways to kill people than with a bow and arrow." Hilton said, only half-joking. "It's like you said, the guy's a whack job." Lance looked at his partner, then at the body being secured to a stretcher, unconvinced.

“Well thank god your dad has some common sense,” Roy said.

“My dad is a good cop he just gets… confused sometimes.”

Roy gave an exasperated sigh. Why did he even have to be here? He didn’t know any of these people and while Oliver was cool, he’d rather be home right now.

  
Back in the Lair, Oliver tested the bloody gauze from his wound, trying to confirm a suspicion. He proved himself right when the blood reacted to the chemicals.  
'The bullets were laced with curare…”

 

“Did he just say the bullets were laced with Curare?” Diggle said turning pale.

When Dinah nodded, Diggle felt his whole world collapse. “I need some air,” He said leaving the room as quickly as possible.

“What’s wrong,”

“A couple of years ago, John’s brother Andy was shot and killed. The bullets used to kill him were laced with a rare deadly poison… Curare. Floyd is the only one who’s ever laced a bullet with the stuff. Even if his shot doesn’t kill you, you slowly succumb to paralysis within five minutes and die within ten.” Dinah said sadly.

“Wait so this guy is Andy’s killer?” Thea asked.

Dinah nodded.

“Someone should probably go talk to him,” Laurel said noticing Diggle still hadn’t come back. Nodding, Dinah stood up and left the room to go after him. She walked out of the room and found John pacing in the hallway.

“John,” she said approaching him from behind.

“My brother’s killer is out there,” Diggle said with his head in his hands.

“And you can stop him, John. You can get your vengeance. When you go back, you’ll know exactly what to do. How to stop him. You and Ollie can end him.”

“I just don’t know what to do with myself,” Diggle admitted. Dinah put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“You’ll figure it out,” She said kindly. “Now come on. Your friends are waiting.” John nodded and the two returned to the room. Nobody said a word as they sat down and pressed play.

_“... a rare and deadly poison, the killer's unique M.O.' Oliver's voice said as he started pulling up various federal databases, searching for a profile that fit. He found it on Interpol's database. 'He's killed all over the world Chicago, Markovia, Corto Maltese. Interpol even has a codename for him: Deadshot.'_

_He studied the limited information in the file. 'I was prepared to give James Holder a chance to right his wrongs, but this Deadshot has no morality, no honor, no code. He doesn't kill for justice, which makes him as dangerous as anyone on my list. In fact, it puts him right at the top.’ Later that day, Oliver led Tommy and Diggle through the Foundry- the upper level, that is._

_"So what do you think?" Oliver asked his friend as he gestured around the empty building. "Great spot for a nightclub or what?"_

“Really,” Thea said annoyed. “He is missing for five years and he decides to start a nightclub.”

“It’s to cover his base underneath,” Dinah said. “He needs an excuse for where he spends his nights.”

_"Sweet," Tommy said. "Though I got to tell you, man, if you're thinking about calling it 'Queens', I don't think you're gonna get the clientele that you were hoping for."                                     Oliver pointed towards an upper level, where the foreman's offices had been. "Private office." He suggested._

_"For the private one-on-one meetings, I would imagine." Tommy inferred with a smile. "Hopefully the occasional two-on-one meeting." Oliver joked back._

“You two are disgusting Tommy,” Laurel said glaring at him.

“In my defense,” Tommy said. “I haven’t done anything yet.”

 

 _Tommy turned to his friend._                                                   

 _"Man, are you sure you want to do this?" he asked seriously. "It's not like you really have any experience in running a... well, running anything." Oliver just gave him a mildly insulted look. Tommy slapped him on the back. "How about tomorrow night the two of us, we go and scope out the competition." He suggested. "There's a new club opening downtown. It's called Poison. Max Fuller owns it."_                                                      

_"Max Fuller?" Oliver asked._

_"Mm-hmm." Tommy nodded._

_"I slept with his fiancé."_

“Well, that will be an uncomfortable encounter,” Roy drawled. Thea laughed at the statement.

“Yeah for some reason I don’t exactly see that going well,” she responded.

 

_"Yeah, before the wedding."_

_"It was at the rehearsal dinner."_

_"The rehearsal dinner is technically before the wedding, right?" Tommy pointed out with a smile._             _"And besides, who stays mad at a castaway?" Tommy's phone rang, and he looked at it. "Ah, dammit, I got to roll. He said, slipping the phone back in his pocket. "Anyway, I'll see you later, man. Good place!"_

_"See you," Oliver called out, then looked to Dig._

_"So what do you think?" he asked._

_"Well, I'm here to provide security, sir, not a commentary."_

_"Oh, come on, Dig, do me a favor," Oliver said earnestly. "Speak freely, please."_

_Diggle took a moment to compose his words. "Well, this is The Glades, right?" he started. "Your rich white friends wouldn't come to this neighborhood on a bet."_

 

Roy snorted at the statement.

                                                           

 _"I'm Oliver Queen, right? People would stand in line for 3 hours if I opened a club." He pointed out._                                           

 _"And no one who actually lives in The Glades would see a penny of those cover charges," Dig said._                                                         

 _"So we make it a successful business, we gentrify the neighborhood.”_                                             

 _"I was wondering when we would get to that." Dig scoffed. "The white knight swooping in to save the disenfranchised. And all by his lonesome with no help from anybody."_                          

 _"Wow," Oliver said. "You don't think very much of me, do you?"_                                         

_"No, sir." Dig disagreed. "Actually, I have a very high regard for how perceptive you are. Sir."_

Everyone laughed at that.

 

 _He walked out of the foundry. Oliver took a last look around._                                                          

_'The nightclub will conceal my base underneath,' Oliver's voice said, 'and provide an alibi for where Oliver Queen spends his nights._

_The scene shifted to CNRI, where Laurel was reading an article on Oliver opening a club. She was so engrossed that she didn't hear Joanna approach._

                                               

“Well, it seems someone isn’t as over Ollie as I thought,” Thea said nudging Laurel in the shoulder. Laurel rolled her eyes in response and moved to another seat leaving just Roy and Thea on the couch.

                                                           

 _"Hey. Do you have the depos on the Jergens case?" her friend asked. Laurel frantically tried to close the article, but not before Joanna got a glimpse._                                                           

 _"Yeah, they're around here somewhere." She dug around her desk. She didn't miss the look Joanna sent her. "I was just surfing the 'net." She said defensively._                                                     

 _"Really?"_                                                        

 _Laurel sighed and looked to her friend. "Joanna, I'm over him." Another look. "And you don't believe me."_                                                         

 _"Well, I would have if I wouldn't have just caught you trolling for articles on him!" Joanna shot back._                                                     

_"I wasn't trolling!" Laurel shot back, exasperated._

_"I don't want to have to be the one to remind you that he cheated on you, Laurel. With your sister."_

                                               

“Thanks for the reminder Jo,” Laurel said rolling her eyes.

 

 _"I appreciate your self-control," Laurel said dryly._                           

 _"You're stuck in the past," Joanna advised. "And the reason I know this is the fact that the only physical relationship you've had since Oliver is with his best friend. It is time to move on." She decided. "It is past time."_                                                    

 _"I've been busy." Laurel hedged. "I work a lot."_                    

 _"Ok. That's got to stop." Joanna decided. "So we are going out tonight. And we are going to have some shots, and we are going to dance with men that we don't know, and we are going to stay out way too late." She plucked a folder off Laurel's desk. "Oh!" she exclaimed wryly. "Jergens depos."_                                                            

 _"I really don't think I can go out tonight." Laurel tried. Joanna just gave her a smile._  

_"It is adorable that you actually think I'm giving you a choice." She said, walking away._

                                               

Laurel smiled at her friend on screen. She was such an amazing person.

 

 _The scene shifted back to Queen Manor, where Thea was getting dressed for school. She was putting her tie on when Moira walked into her room._                                                            

 _"I want you to come home right after school." She said._                                                       

_"Oh, can't." The said absently, checking her appearance in the mirror. "Margot and I are going to go to the mall."_

_"What, more shopping?" Moira asked rhetorically. "Tell Margot you'll have to cancel. You're grounded for two weeks."_

                                               

“Grounded?” Thea huffed. “She is unbelievable!”

“Actually I’m going to have to go with your mom on this one Thea,” Tommy said from his chair.

“You committed a crime,” Laurel added. “I think she’s going easy on you.”                                                           

_"Grounded?" Thea looked at her mother, incredulous. "I've never been grounded." "Well, you've never committed larceny before," Moira replied pointedly._

_"Since when do you care?" Thea demanded._

_"I've always cared," Moira replied defensively. "I'm your mother."_

 

“She has a funny way of showing it,” Thea said sadly curling in on herself. Roy looked over at her sadly. Maybe he’d judged her too quickly. She was definitely a rich brat, but she didn’t exactly have an easy life. Reluctantly Roy patted her on the back in a show of support. Thea smiled at the gesture. Tommy glared as he watched the interaction. He was going to have to keep a close eye on this kid.

                                               

_"Look, we've had a good thing going on the last five years," Thea said, annoyed. "Why mess with that now?"_

_Moira walked further into the room, right up to Thea. "No, we are paying off store owners to keep your record clean, so clearly, it hasn't been working."_

_"And you're going to teach me." Thea scoffed, her arms crossed. "It's Oliver, isn't it? His judgmental hypocrisy is rubbing off on you."_

_"No, I don't need Oliver to teach me how to parent you." Moira shot back. "You'll be home by 4:00."_

_"Or what?" the asked snidely. "You're going to call the cops on me?" She walked past her mom, grabbing her purse on the way out of the room. "Tell them I say hi." Moira looked on, exasperated._

_The scene shifted to Holder's penthouse. On the ground, Oliver was surveying the area, thinking back to the night he was shot. He looked up at the penthouse, then over to where he believed the shots came from. Three shots were fired at him- one hit his arm, one hit a retaining wall, but one overshot the building. He followed where he thought the trajectory carried the slug. Spotting something far up on one building's outer wall, he leaped into action- literally. Applying his parkour skills, he scaled the wall. Approaching the bullet hole, he pulled out his knife and carefully extracted the bullet._

_Back at SCPD headquarters, Quentin was looking over the crime scene photos when Hilton approached._

_Got ballistics back on the Holder murder." He announced. "They pulled two 7.62 millimeter bullets out of him. According to the stippling and size of the entry wound, they estimate the shots were fired from approximately a hundred yards away."_

_"A hundred yards?" Lance repeated. "What, so the hood shoots him from another building, goes over to his place, he takes out his security, and then he fires off a few arrows?_

“Sounds pretty far fetched to me,” Diggle said sourly.

 

_"And according to his tox screen, his blood contained high concentrations of strychnos toxifera."_

_"- What?" Lance asked, his look saying 'speak English.'_

_" - Curare." Hilton clarified. It's a kind of poison."_

_"Oh," Lance said dryly. "Ok, so now we switch from arrows to sniper bullets and poison." He shook his head. "I'm not buying it."_

_"We still found arrows on the scene," Hilton said, clinging to his theory. "Solid evidence the Hood was there." Lance got up and started walking out. "Where you going?" he asked tiredly._

_"I'm going to get my own evidence," Lance said, walking out. Hilton sighed and dropped the folder onto Lance's desk._

_The scene shifted to the Foundry, where Oliver was running his own ballistics on the round he pulled from the wall._

_'7.62-millimeter rounds.' His voice said as he stared at his computers. 'The money trail leads back to the Bratva- the Russian mob. Finally some good luck.'_

“What is he talking about?” Laurel asked turning towards her older self. Just as Dinah was about to answer the door swished open and a man in red threads walked in. His hood was up over his face and he wore a mask clearly hiding his true identity.

“You’ll see,” The man said taking a seat next to Dinah.

“And who are you?” Roy asked inquisitively.

“You can call me Arsenal.”

 

_The scene changed again, and now Oliver was walking into a Russian auto repair shop. He approached two men working on an old Mustang._

_"I’m looking for Alexi Lenonov." He stated in flawless Russian._

_The elder of the two, a bald, rough-looking Russian turned to stare at Oliver. "There's no one here by that name," he responded after a moment._

_Oliver shook his head and moved in closer. "Not in your garage." He said. "in the basement underneath." The bald man indicated to his compatriot, who mace out from underneath the car and pulled a gun. As he brought it up, Oliver deftly disarmed the man, sending him to his knees with one hand as he pulled the gun out and disassembled it. He then pulled down the collar of his shirt, exposing the tattoo on his chest._

_"I’m Bratva." He announced._

“WHAT!?” Laurel shouted standing up from her seat. “I cannot believe this! CNRI has been trying to build a case against them for years! And now he is one of them?” She seethed.

“Laurel, calm down,” Dinah tried to reason. But the young one wouldn’t listen.

“No, you can’t possibly be ok with this. He’s in the Bratva! They are ruthless savages. Criminals. Murderous bastards. Just think about what he must’ve had to do to get in there!”

“Enough!” Arsenal boomed before a full-on brawl could start.

“Laurel,” Diggle cut in. “We shouldn’t make premature judgments. There must be more to the story. Just continue to watch.”

Reluctantly, Laurel sat back down glaring daggers at the elder woman.

_He allowed the second man to get up, and he moved behind the bald man._

_"I’m looking for Alexi Lenonov." Oliver demanded again._

_The bald man moved to Oliver and offered a short bow. "Pleased to meet you." He said in English. Oliver nodded in return. Soon, they were walking through a door and down a set of stairs to the basement, the headquarters for the Starling City branch of the Bratva._

_"I apologize." Alexi was saying. "We meant no disrespect to a Captain. Particularly an American one." He stopped at a table and began pouring two shots of vodka. "So, how can I be of assistance?"_

_"I'm in the market for a hired gun," Oliver stated. "Someone the organization's used before. His calling card is a 7.62-millimeter gun laced with curare."_

_Alexi shook his head. "I know no man who uses such tools."_

_"But you can find out who does." Oliver countered._

_Alexi handed him his shot. "First, we will drink to each other's health, then I will look into the identity of this man you seek." The two drank. "Ahh." He said as the alcohol went down. "I will also confirm that you are really Bratva captain." He said, smiling. "Should this not be the case, I will send my mechanic here to find you and kill you and your family." He indicated the second man, who had taken a position on the second flight of stairs. Oliver stared at the two men for a moment, then left._

“You better hope he is Bratva now,” Diggle noted darkly. Thea paled and Roy unconsciously scooted closer to her.

 

_As he walked out of the shot, he caught the end of a news broadcast._

_'Carl Rasmussen was found shot to death in his home earlier this evening.' The reporter was saying on the television. 'The police will not comment if there's a connection between Mr. Rasmussen's death and the murder of James Holder a few nights ago. Mr. Rasmussen leaves behind a wife and three children.' The scene changed to Queen Manor, where Detectives Lance and Hilton were talking with Walter and Moira._

_"It's a great loss." Walter was saying. "Carl was a titan."_

_"A titan who was looking to buy out a company called Unidac Industries?" Hilton observed, looking at his notes._

_"Well, Industries are something of a misnomer," Walter explained. "UI's recent activity was actually looking into alternative energy."_

_"I think the point my partner is trying to make is that Carl Rasmussen was the second bidder this week to lose his life." Lance cut in._

_"Are you implying something, Detective?" Moira asked archly._

_"Well, only that your husband's looking into buying Unidac Industries and the competition seems to be dropping like flies." Lance pointed out._

“And he’s back to being an ass,” Laurel said sighing as she sunk down into her chair.

 

_And I'm sure your veiled accusation has nothing to do with how you feel about my family?" Moira shot back, annoyed._

_"Unidac's in receivership, Detective." Walter cut in before things got heated. "Ownership is subject to a liquidation auction, so that means there are many prospective buyers. And the auction's tomorrow, so if I was taking out the competition, I have a lot of killing to do in a very short amount of time." He finished, dryly._

_"We're just making the rounds with the interested buyers." Hilton put in, trying to diffuse the tension. "Let them know to be careful."_

_"Oh, yes. And I'm overwhelmed that Detective Lance is concerned for our safety." Moira said sarcastically._

_"Well, thank you for your concern, gentlemen," Walter said. He nodded towards Diggle, who stood in the doorway. "Our security consultant, Mr. Diggle, is taking all the necessary precautions."_

_"Yeah. Right." Lance slapped his knees and rose. "Well, if you need us," he said as he and Hilton started to leave "we're just a 911 call away." Moira shook her head in exasperation as the cops left. The scene shifted to outside the club Poison. Tommy and Oliver, followed by Diggle, made their way to the head of the line. The bouncer undid the chain and let them through at once._

_"Ha ha ha! Oh, my, this is going to be killer." Tommy exclaimed._

_"If Max never sees me here, I agree." Oliver pointed out._

Everyone in the room chuckled at the statement.

 

_Tommy just clapped him on the shoulder. "Ah, if you want to run a business, you've got to take a few risks." The bouncer closed the chain just as Diggle came up. He stared at the bodyguard impassively._

_"I don't see your name on the list." He stated._

_"Mr. Queen," Dig called out. Oliver spun around and headed back. He patted the bouncer on the shoulder. "Oh!" he said jovially, pointing at Dig. "I have never seen this guy before in my life. Ever." He gave Dig a wink and headed back inside with a laughing Tommy. Diggle just sighed._

At this point, everyone was laughing so hard they needed to pause the video in order to recover. After a few moments, Diggle pressed play.

 

_The two men walked into the club and looked around. It was dim and loud with the sounds of music and laughter. They watched the ladies dance, then as one headed towards the bar. Tommy spotted her first. "Oh, wow!" he exclaimed, "Doesn't you going out and having fun violate some kind of law, you know, like the ones that are carved on a stone tablet?"_

Laurel rolled her eyes.

 

_Laurel gave him a look. "That's cute, Tommy."_

_“Thanks."_

_"I can see you two are up to your old hunting patterns." She noted wryly, eyeing Oliver._

_"Just seeing what passes for fun in Starling City after five years." the former castaway said_

_"Ah. Well, I'm sure you'll find that it just hasn't been the same without you."_

_The three were spared further conversation as a very drunk Thea stumbled up to Oliver._

“Great,” Thea said dryly. “Another opportunity to embarrass myself.” Roy couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped from his lips.

 

_"Big brother!" she exclaimed. "Oh! I am so wasted right now. There is… there is two of you." She finished, waving a finger between the real and imaginary Oliver. Her brother looked back at her sternly._

_"I thought you were grounded." He stated. Tommy and Laurel both turned back to the bar, suddenly very uncomfortable._

_"I am." She crossed her arms. "And thank you for that, by the way."_

_Oliver stepped in closer, glaring at his sister. "You're done for the night."_

_"Oh, what are you going to do?" she asked defiantly. "Tell mom?"_

_"Thea!" he exclaimed but reigned in his emotions. "You are hanging with the wrong people." He tried._

_"You're one to talk." She looked over to Tommy and Laurel with an evil glare. "How much do you know about your own so-called friends over here?"_

 

“Crap,” Tommy said turning white as he realized what Thea was about to reveal.

 

_"Ok, Thea, maybe you should-" Tommy started, but Thea cut him off. "Tommy I think your BFF has a right to know." She said snidely._

_"Thea, let's go." Oliver tried to lead her away, but she was having none of it._

_"Well, I guess they never told you that they've been screwing while you were gone." She shot the two a satisfied look as Laurel and Tommy suddenly found it hard to look at Oliver. Oliver, meanwhile, never looked away from Thea._

_"Look, man, I-" Tommy started to say, but Oliver cut him off._

_"Tommy," he said softly, looking at his friend. Tommy looked back uncertainly. "It's ok." He said earnestly._

“He’s lying,” Diggle noted.

“What?” Laurel asked.

“He’s lying. He really is bothered by you two being together.”

“Considering what he did I don’t think he had the right to…” Diggle cut her off

“I know. SO does he. That’s why he hasn’t said anything, but Laurel… I think he’s still in love with you.”

Laurel stared at Diggle in shock and then towards her older self who just nodded in confirmation. When no one said anything for a few moments, the memories resumed.

 

_Oliver turned back to Thea, anger evident on his face. "You and me, we're done for the night." He grabbed her arm and started dragging her towards the door._

_"Take your hands off of me!" she yelled, yanking her hand free. "You're not my father." She hissed. "And you're barely my brother." She stalked off, leaving an angry Oliver behind._

Thea winced at her harsh words. She shouldn’t have said that.

 

_"Well, well… look at this." A voice said from behind him. "Oliver Queen."_

_Oliver turned to see "Max Fuller." He said, eyeing the two bodyguards that flanked the man. "How've you been?"_

_"Happy you drowned."_

_Oliver was led to a curtained off area. He knew what was coming, but he tried to reason with the man. "Hey, Max-" he started, but was thrown to the floor by a punch from the club owner. He forced himself not to react._

“Why the hell isn’t he doing anything?” Thea asked worriedly.

“He probably doesn’t want me to figure out his secret,” Tommy said frowning.

 

_“Get him up!" Max yelled to his bouncers, who roughly pulled him to his feet._

_"Hey, let him go, let him go!" Tommy yelled, rushing into the area and putting himself between Oliver and the goons. "Hey, I said let him go!"_

_Told you he was going to be pissed." Oliver said quietly._

_"Back off, Merlyn," Max said. "This isn't your problem."_

_"You want to get to him? You've got to go through me." Tommy eyed the goons as they grinned to one another, and then looked over his shoulder at Oliver. "Wow, they are probably going to get through me." Without another thought, Tommy threw the first punch, knocking one of the bouncers back. Oliver went after the other, even as he tried to keep his true skills hidden. Holding back, the fight soon turned in Fuller's bouncers' favor, with Tommy and Oliver on the floor. Max stood back at the curtain, a satisfied smile on his face- At least until Laurel came in, hitting him several times in the kidneys, and then kicking the back of his knee out. She spun him, then flipped him onto the ground hard. The bouncers stopped and looked back at the brunette._

“Damn those are some nice moves,” Roy said impressed.

“Where’d you learn that?” Diggle asked curiously.

“Daughter of a cop,” Laurel said as an explanation.

“Either way thanks for saving our asses,” Tommy said smiling at Laurel. Laurel smiled back softly.

 

_So is this over, Max?" she asked harshly. "Or are you going to have your boy's pound on me next?"_

_Max ungracefully stumbled to his feet. He glared at the three. "You three consider yourselves banned for life." She snarled. "Get the hell out of my place!"_

_"Your club sucks anyway." Tommy shot back._

_"You guys ok?" Laurel asked. Oliver looked at his ex._

_"Where'd you learn to do that?"_

_"Cop dad, remember? He made me take self-defense classes."_

_"Laurel," he started, "What Thea said-_

_"Oliver, Tommy and I don't need your blessing." She pointed out. "And I don't need your forgiveness."_

“I shouldn’t be acting like that,” Laurel said ashamed.

 

_The scene flashed back to the cave. Oliver slowly came back to consciousness. Glancing around, he saw the Asian man sound asleep. Quietly he got to his feet and swiftly made his way out of the cave. Once outside, he ran through the forest. He paused a moment to catch his breath, then started moving again- only to be ensnared in a net, which dragged him up five feet into the air. Back in the present, Diggle was leading Tommy and Oliver into Big Belly Burger. He waved at a cute woman behind the counter, who waved back. "Why don't you guys take a seat, and I will grab a couple of burgers and some ice for those faces." Tommy smiled at the woman. "The girl's pretty cute." He said casually._

If looks could kill, the one that Diggle sent Tommy would’ve killed him six times over.

 

_“That's my sister in law," Diggle said, a steely glare at the younger man._

_"-Who I will never speak to or look at," Tommy replied at once. "Ever. Gonna grab a booth." Tommy headed to the back of the restaurant._

_"She's not wearing a wedding ring." Oliver noticed. "Brother out of the picture?"_

Diggle closed his eyes sadly at the question.

 

_"Yeah, you could say that." He replied. Oliver headed back to Tommy, while Dig headed over to Carly. "Hey, you." He said._

_"So sweet of you to adopt two white boys." Carly joked, leaning up against the counter. "They need a good role model."That's my client Oliver Queen." He explained. They watched the batted young man drop painfully into the booth._

_"Looks like you're doing a bang up job protecting him." She remarked._

_"Mmm." Dig agreed._

_At the booth, Tommy was working up his courage. "Look, man about Laurel." He started. "I was going to tell you. I was just trying to figure out the right way."_

_"To tell somebody that you slept with their girlfriend after they went missing and were then presumed dead." He replied seriously and then gave a small smile. "What, there's no greeting card for that?" he joked. The two laughed._

_"Look it was wrong," Tommy said, seriously. "And I'm sorry."_

_"Tommy." Oliver started quietly. "I was dead.”_

_"No, man, you were with Laurel," Tommy replied, cutting him off. "And whether you were dead, or as it turns out, alive on a deserted island, you are my friend. And me being with Laurel violated that friendship in about 50 different ways."_

_"Thank you," Oliver said earnestly. "But it's ok."_

“He still loves you,” Tommy says with a tinge of sadness in his voice. Laurel didn’t even know how to answer that. What could she say?

 

_Back at the counter, Carly was still talking to Diggle. "How dangerous is this gig, anyway?" she asked, concerned._

_"It's a cakewalk, Carla, don't worry." He assured her._

_"Too late." She said. "Or have you forgotten this job got your brother killed? Because, Dig, I haven't. I can't." she walked away._

_"You are being really chill about this," Tommy remarked to Oliver back at the booth. Before he could reply, his phone rang. He pulled it out._

_"Hello?" he said, then spoke in Russian. He held the phone to his chest and looked to Tommy. "It's a Russian model calling me." He explained with a smile. "Can we- can I have a minute, please?"_

  
“I still find it scary that he can lie like that,” Thea said shifting in her seat.

“Agreed,” Said Laurel watching the scene unfold.

_Tommy laughed lightly as he got up out of the booth. "I can see now why you were able to be so chill." He remarked. "Enjoy."_

_"So I checked out?" he said._

_"You did," Alexi replied. "His name is Floyd Lawton. I have the address where he stayed last time he was in Starling City. But that is all."_

_"Let's hope he's a creature of habit," Oliver replied. "Go."_

_"1700 Broadway Pell Hotel, room 52," Alexi replied. "You'll leave us out of this, yes? Assuming Mr. Lawton doesn't kill you first." Oliver hung up._

_The scene changed to Oliver standing outside room 52. He kicked the door open and fired an arrow, narrowly missing Lawton as he dived off the chair and behind his bed._

“Damnit get him, Oliver!” Diggle screamed at the screen.

 

_He came up, right arm extended and sprayed the doorway with bullets from a wrist-mounted fully automatic submachine gun. Oliver ducked back outside and waited for him to reload. As Lawton changed clips he got two more arrows off, but Lawton propped up the mattress, blocking them. He sprayed bullets once more, then jumped out the window behind him. Oliver rushed into the room and looked out the window, but there was no sign of him. As police sirens got closer, Oliver grabbed the damaged remains of Lawton's laptop and ran out._

_The scene shifted to the next day at Queen Consolidated, as Oliver made his way through the I.T. department, stopping in front of a particular cubicle._

_"Ahem." He cleared his throat, getting the blonde woman's attention. "Felicity Smoak?" he asked, smiling. "Hi. I'm Oliver Queen."_

_"Of course." She said, surprised. "I know who you are, you're Mr. Queen."_

“Bitch!” Dinah snarled as the blonde appeared on the screen.

“What?” Tommy asked confused.

“That woman,” Dinah started angrily. “Is the incarnation of the devil. I would kill her if she weren’t already dead!”

“Dinah, calm down.” Arsenal started but Dinah cut him off.

“No! I hate her with every fiber in my being. I hope she rots in hell,” Dinah snapped before storming out of the room. Arsenal turned to the past timers.

“You guys keep watching. Someone will come and get you for lunch in a little bit.”

With that, he also fled the room. Chasing after Dinah he found her back in the control room along with Kara Zor-el and Nora West-Allen. Both girls trying to calm an angered Canary. They talked for a little while before another voice jumped in.

“Enough!” Everyone turned to see a woman in all white leather walk into the room. Behind her were two men. The first wore an all yellow costume with a lightning bolt on his chest. The second had on a mostly black outfit and carried a bow. “We’re trying to fix things Laur, but you can’t just blow up like that with no explanation. We can change everything. But we can’t screw it up.” The one in white, Sara, said to her sister.

“Hopefully we can save everyone,” the one in black, Connor Hawke (John Diggle Jr.) said.

“We just have to wait and have patience,” Wally added. ( **A/N: The Wally West in my story is not the one from the show. Picture the Wally from Young Justice but in real life.)**

“And then we can get my dad back. And everyone else we lost,” Nora said determines looking at her cousin.

“I hope so,” Dinah said softly. “I miss him.”

* * *

 

Back in the viewing room the time travelers look around at each other confused.

“What do we do now?” Roy asked looking around at everyone else.

“I guess we finish the episode,” Diggle responded resuming the memories using the remote.

 

_"No, Mr. Queen was my father." He stated with a smile._

_"Right, but he's dead." She shook her head, embarrassed. "I mean, he drowned." She closed her eyes, trying to compose herself. "But you didn't, which means you could come down to the I.T. department and listen to me babble. Which will end." She slowly rotated away from Oliver. "In 3… 2… 1…" she turned back._

 

Everyone laughed at Felicity’s awkwardness.

 

_"I'm having some trouble with my computer and they told me that you were the person to come and see." He said, laying Floyd Lawton's laptop down on her desk. "I was at my coffee shop surfing the web and I spilled a latte on it." He lied. Poorly._

_Felicity looked at him. "Really?"_

_"Yeah."_

_She ran her hand over the casing. "'Cause these look like bullet holes."_

_"My coffee shop is in a bad neighborhood." He added smoothly._

 

“He couldn’t have figured out something better than that?” Tommy asked laughing at the lame lie.

“Maybe he’s testing her,” Diggle said amused.

“God I hope so,” Thea said laughing. “Even I’m a better liar than that.”

Even Roy was laughing at the fib.

 

_She tilted her head and gave him a look that said 'Really?" Oliver smiled down at her. "If there is anything that you can salvage from it, I would really appreciate it." He said in a hopeful tone. Felicity gave him one last look, then shrugged and picked up the laptop._

_Back at Queen Manor, Thea was in her room, texting on her phone. Moira walked in, and momentarily was shocked that Thea was home._

_"Oh." She exclaimed pleasantly. "Well, good, you're here."_

_"I'm under house arrest, remember." Thea shot back, not looking up from her phone._

_Moira held up two dresses. "Do you want to wear the Calvin Klein or the Zac Posen?" she asked. Thea looked up._

_"For dinner?" she said, confused. "I was just going to wear pajamas."_

_"To Walter's stock auction," Moira explained._

_Thea groaned and looked back to her phone. "I think I'd rather be grounded."_

_"No, it's important that you come." Moira pressed on._

_"Important to whom?"_

_"To me." Moira insisted. Thea looked up at her incredulously and then turned back to her phone. Moira sighed and sat on the edge of the bed, putting a hand on Thea's arm. "All right, listen to me. When you were four years old, you came home one day with a cat. It was a stray, it was filthy, and it was mean. But you stood there and you declared that it was coming to live with us. Your father came home from the office and he saw what was going on, and he sat you down and he explained to you that the cat was, in fact, a tiger and that we needed to get it home. And somehow you understood." Thea smiled slightly at the memory. "Robert was always so good at getting through to you." She continued. "I… I was always so jealous of that." She admitted._

Thea had tears streaming down her cheeks as her mother finally started talking about her dad. She leaned back into Roy letting herself cry for the first time in months.

 

_The two were silent for a moment. Thea's eyes were wet with unshed tears. Finally, Thea spoke. "You never talk about him." She stated. "Dad. That's the first time you've talked about him in years."_

_"Well, I think you and I have gotten into some bad habits." Moira finally said. "There's been a lot that has changed recently, Thea, and I think that maybe this can change, too." She patted Thea's arm and rose from the bed, leaving Thea to think._

_Back at Queen Consolidated, Felicity was working on the laptop. She managed to pull up several image files._

_"It looks like blueprints." She said._

_"Do you know what of?" Oliver asked._

_"The Exchange Building."_

_"Never heard of it."_

_"It's where the Unidac industry's auction is scheduled to take place," Felicity explained._

“Well that doesn’t look good,” Tommy commented concerned.

 

_At his look, she pressed, "I thought you said that was your laptop."_

_"Yes," Oliver stated._

_Felicity sighed. "Look, I don't want to get in the middle of some Shakespearean family drama thing."_

_Oliver's eye flickered rapidly between the computer and Felicity. Confusion played across his face. "What?"_

_"Mr. Steele marrying your mom." She explained. "Claudius, Gertrude, Hamlet?"_

_"I didn't study Shakespeare at any of the four schools that I dropped out of," Oliver said bluntly._

_"Mr. Steele is trying to buy Unidac Industries. And you've got a company laptop associated with one of the guys he's competing against."_

_Oliver nodded. "Floyd Lawton."_

_"No" Felicity interjected, "Warren Patel." She looked at him. "Who's Floyd Lawton?"_

_"He is an employee of Mr. Patel, evidently," Oliver explained lamely._

_'The Exchange Building is surrounded by 3 towers with eye lines into the building.' Oliver's voice said as he stared at the blueprints. 'Lawton could get a kill shot off from virtually anywhere. But I can't cover the area. I can't protect all of Deadshot's targets. I can't do this alone.'_

_The scene shifted to outside the SCPD headquarters later that night, where Lance was walking to his car._

“Oh this should be good,” Tommy said smirking.

“Yeah because we know your dad loves the vigilante,” Roy added sarcastically.

_He was suddenly grabbed roughly from behind and slammed into the hood of a cruiser. Looking back, grunting in pain, he saw The Hood pinning him down, holding one arm back in a vice-like grip, preventing him from getting up._

_"Ah, you son of a bitch!" he started._

_"Detective, quiet!" The Hood whispered._

_"You've got a pair on you, pulling this right outside the police station!" Lance snarled._

_"Floyd Lawton's the one targeting the buyers interested in Unidac Industries. Interpol calls him 'Deadshot' because he never misses. You can look this up after I go." The Hood told the detective._

_"Yeah, and stop chasing you, I suppose?" he grunted as The Hood cranked back on his arm slightly._

_"Warren Patel hired Lawton." He continued. "I can't be sure who they're targeting, it might be all the buyers, and I can't protect them in a space that big. I need your help." He pleaded._

_"Yeah? Professional help." Lance scoffed._

_"Lawton laces his bullets with curare. Tell your men to wear Kevlar." The Hood finished._

_"I'll them to shoot you-" he gasped as an arrow was driven into the hood of the car right next to his head. Suddenly the pressure on his arm was gone, and he shot up and looked around- but The Hood was gone. Looking back at the hood, he noticed the laptop for the first time._

“Your dad is lucky Oliver’s not the killer he thinks because if he was, he’d of left that encounter a lot more damaged,” Diggle notes grimly.

 

_The scene shifted to later that night at the Exchange Building. Moira and Walter were standing in the grand foyer, chatting quietly with one another._

_"Well, it's quite a turnout, huh?" Moira remarked, looking around. Walter hummed in agreement._

_"Well, it's quite an opportunity, actually." He said. "But regardless of the outcome of the auction, I'm already a winner because I have the two most beautiful women at my side tonight."_

_"Two?" Moira asked in confusion._

_"Mm-hmm." Walter looked up past Moira, and she turned to see Thea enter in a tasteful blue dress. "Thanks for coming, Thea." He told the young woman, kissing her on the cheek. "It means a lot to your mother. And me." Thea smiled and hugged her mother._

_"Mr. Steele, the auction will be opening in 5 minutes." A woman said, coming up to the group. "Please make sure your bid is ready."_

_"Thank you, Gina." He replied, and then looked to his two ladies. "Shall we?"_

_"Mm-hmm." Moira agreed, and the three walked into the main room._

_Warren Patel was talking to some of his fellow businessmen when Detective Hilton approached him. "Warren Patel." The cop announced, grabbing the man by his arm. "I'm going to need you to come with me, sir."_

“That is justice,” Laurel said smiling.

 

_Oliver watched from the top of the stairs as Patel was led away. Across the room on the balcony, Lance was monitoring the situation on his radio._

_"Unit one, all clear," Lance announced. "Unit two, you copy?"_

_'We have Patel in custody.' Hilton's voice sounded. 'Still, no sign of Lawton.'_

_"Unit three?"_

_'I'm at the northwest perimeter. All clear.'_

_"Unit four?"_

_'Parking structure is clear.'_

_"Unit five, what's your status?" he asked. Across the street in an under construction floor of an office building, Deadshot lifted up the radio._

_"This is unit five." He said. "All clear." He put the radio down and grabbed his sniper rifle, paying no attention to the dead cop on the floor._

“Shit!” Diggle cussed loudly. “He’s going to kill someone else!”

“Don’t worry Digg,” Laurel said calmly. “We can stop him now.”

 

_The scene changed to show Laurel walking through a deserted courthouse._

_"Oh, what a shock." She looked up to see Tommy sitting in one of the chairs that lined the wall, grinning at her. "It is Friday night. What are you doing here?" he asked._

_"Well, I am an attorney and this is a courthouse, so I think the better question is, what are you doing here?" she countered._

_"I wanted to talk to you about last night." He began._

_"You mean how I saved your asses? You're welcome." She said teasingly. Tommy rose from the chair._

_"Ok, first of all, we shall never, ever speak of that ever again." He said with a smile. "And secondly, I think you know that I meant the other thing."_

_"I don't care to talk about that," Laurel said, moving to walk away._

_"I spoke to Oliver," Tommy said, stopping Laurel in her tracks. "He was surprisingly cool."_

_"That's because he knew." Laurel realized. At Tommy's confused look, she pressed on. "Did you see his face when Thea told him? Tommy, he didn't even blink. Trust me, he knew."_

_"Then why didn't he say anything?" Tommy asked. Laurel shrugged._

_"I don't know. Maybe because he knows he doesn't have any right to judge me."_

Laurel shakes her head starting to realize she may have had everything all wrong. Ollie had clearly changed. She needed to stop judging him on who he used to be.

 

_"There's a silver lining, though," Tommy said after a moment. "Now that the whole truth and nothing but is out, is there a chance now for you and me?" they stared at one another."You said you didn't think that I was a one girl type of guy. I'm going to prove you wrong." He decided._

_"By dating me," Laurel said._

_"By being better." He clarified. "By being someone that you deserve and that you want to be with." He finished earnestly._

Laurel looked over at Tommy. God, why was her life so complicated. She wasn’t sure what to make of the situation but she needed time to think.

 

_Laurel smiled. "Well, that's certainly a guy I'd be interested in meeting." She said finally. Tommy smiled._

_"Good. Now, how about we start, ahem, by getting you the heck out of here." He took the case files from her and held out his arm. "Come on, it is Friday night. Come on." He encouraged. Laurel sighed and took his arm._

_"Fine." She said, smiling._

_The scene shifted back to the Exchange Building. Oliver entered the main room, only to be brought up short by a familiar voice._

_"Well, don't you scrub up nice?" Lance said sarcastically, as he cast his eyes around the room._

“Jerk,” Thea said.

_"Here to support my family," Oliver stated with a tight smile._

_"Yeah, me too, God help me," Lance remarked crossly._

_"Thank you," Oliver said quietly, in honest thanks. Lance scoffed at him and moved off. Oliver moved into the room and headed to his bodyguard. "Dig," he said to the man, his eyes looking around the room. "Got your eyes open?"_

_Dig gave him a look. "That's what I'm here for, sir." He said, annoyed. "That and answering patronizing questions."_

_"This guy's out of time," Oliver said plainly, still looking around. "If he's going to do something, it's going to happen before the auction."_

_Diggle looked at him, partly in confusion and partly in worry. "Sir?" he asked. Oliver looked at him, the mask back on suddenly._

_"I heard the story on the radio." He said lamely._

“Maybe he is just having trouble making excuses that day. I mean that answer is complete bullshit. Anyone could see that,” Roy said intrigued.

 

_"Oliver!" Walter exclaimed happily. Oliver walked over to the man. "So pleased you were able to attend."_

_"Hmm." He replied. "Walter, the police said that some of the Unidac bidders were murdered." He told the man, worry in his voice. "I just think that we should be a little bit more careful. My mother's already lost a husband." He finished quietly._

_"Well, if Moira shared your concern, she wouldn't have come," Walter said, unconcerned. "And she definitely wouldn't have brought your sister." Oliver looked up in shock at his mother and sister standing only a few feet away. He made his way over to them._

_"Hi." He said, motioning to Diggle, who hurried over._

_"Oliver, what a wonderful surprise." Moira started, but Oliver ignored her._

_"I need you to get them out of here right now." He told Diggle._

_Across the room, Lance was still looking around, worried. A flicker of red light caught his eye, and he looked over, glancing at Walter- who had a small, red dot on his chest over his heart. It took only a second for Lance to realize what it was, and he took off running. He tackled Walter to the ground just as the sound of shattered glass echoed throughout the room, and the waiter that had been standing behind Walter flew back, killed by Deadshot's missed round._

Thea let out a breath of relief on seeing that Walter was okay. But it was quickly consumed by worry as she saw people running in chaos to escape the sniper.

 

_Screams erupted, and Diggle grabbed Moira even as Oliver grabbed Thea and hurried them out of the room. More shots rang out, and another man went down._

_"Are you ok?" Oliver asked Thea. She nodded, and he looked to his mother. "Are you hurt?" he demanded._

_"No, I'm fine!" she replied shakily. "Where is Walter?" she asked, terrified that he was dead. Oliver looked around and saw Detective Lance leading him out of the room._

_"Walter's fine." He assured her._

_"Sir, I have to get you out of here." Diggle started, but Oliver shook his head._

_"No, them. Them!" he demanded, pointing at his mother and sister. He then turned and ran off, leaving his mother calling after him._

_"Go, go," Diggle said, pointing to the exit. "I'll find him, ma'am, I'll find him." He assured her._

_Oliver ran up the service stairs, pausing briefly at a trash can. He pulled off the lid and pulled out a duffle bag. Opening the bad, he extracted his hood, and then continued up the stairs. A minute later, Dig came up the stairs, pausing briefly at the trashcan. Across the street, Deadshot was continuing to fire into the Exchange Building when suddenly The Hood crashed through the window. He landed and rolled, ducking behind a column as Deadshot sprayed bullets from his wrist gun. Oliver returned fire, missing twice. There was silence as Lawton looked for a kill shot._

_"Drop your guns." The Hood yelled._

_I admire your work." Lawton replied. "Guess you won't be extending me any professional courtesy."_

“What?” Laurel asked surprised. “They’re not the same.” Diggle smiled slightly noticing that her opinion of Oliver’s nightly activities was changing.

 

_"We're not in the same line of work." The Hood snarled. "Your profession is murder."_

_"You've taken lives." Deadshot shot back._

_"For the good of others." The Hood defended. "You're out for yourself."_

“That's true,” Diggle pointed out. “Oliver hasn’t taken a life unless necessary. Lawton is just a cold-blooded psychopath who belongs six feet underground.”

 

_Deadshot scoffed, then opened fire, spraying the column with bullets. As soon as the clip was empty, The Hood whipped around and fired, then ducked back behind the column. He heard a body drop and then waited a few more moments to be sure. Finally, he peeked out-_

_And saw Deadshot on the ground, apparently dead, with an arrow through his targeting sensor eyepiece._

Diggle let a lone tear fall from his eye as he watched Andy’s killer drop lifelessly to the ground. If this was what justice was, he could get on board with Oliver’s mission.

 

_He stared at the body for a moment, before a groan caught his attention. He whirled around to see Dig, slumping against a doorframe, wounded by a ricochet from Deadshot._

“Damn!” Diggle shouted as he watched himself collapse on screen.

 

_Without hesitation, The Hood ran over to him, put Digs' arm around his shoulders, and walked him out. The scene flashed back to the Island, where Oliver awoke with a start to see the Asian man standing before him, a machete in his hand._

_"Shǎguā." He said in Mandarin. "Zhège dìfāng tài wéixiǎnle, rènhé yīgè rén dúchǔ." He walked over and cut the net down, sending Oliver crashing to the ground. "Tāmen huì shāle nǐ." The man declared. Oliver made his way out of the net, scrambling to his feet as he heard something heading through the bush behind him. He ran after the Asian. Moments later, soldiers in all black appeared. They studied the net, tossing it aside and moving off after a few minutes._

“That’s not good,” Thea said an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“Who are they?” Laurel asked concerned.

“I don’t know,” Roy said.

 

_Back in the present, The Hood led Diggle down into the Foundry. Laying him on a table, he moved to the munitions crate and pulled out the bag of herbs. Mixing some in water, he fed the potion to Diggle, who coughed slightly but drank. Sometime later- it could have been minutes, it could have been hours, Diggle came too. He looked around in confusion, wondering where he was. He struggled to sit up, finally doing so. As his surroundings came back into focus, he spotted a familiar face. Across from him, leaning against another table and dressed in green leather and hood down, was Oliver Queen._

_"Hey."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm back. Sorry this chapter took forever to finish. School was absolutely awful the last couple of months. But Luckily I am now on summer break so I should have more time to work on this story. I am not sure when the next update will be, but I will do my best to make it as soon as possible. Also, please comment and let me know what you think of this chapter. I know this one was really long but I wanted to start introducing more of the future Justice League members. What'd you think of me using Wally West from the comics and Young Justice series? I wanted to write him completely different since he has pretty much disappeared as of late. More will be explained about the future in a couple of chapters. Until next time!


	4. An Innocent Man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter. Time for a poll. I had originally intended this to be a Lauliver fic, but I have been thinking and I am not too far in to pick a different ship. So, would you all prefer Lauliver or Canarrow? I honestly love both and I can't decide. Whichever ship wins this poll will become the main pairing for this fic. You can vote by leaving a comment. Thanks! On with the story.

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING. NONE OF THIS BELONGS TO ME.**

 

_The scene begins with a recap as The Hood led Diggle down into the Foundry. Laying him on a table, he moved to the munitions crate and pulled out the bag of herbs. Mixing some in water, he fed the potion to Diggle, who coughed slightly but drank. Sometime later- it could have been minutes, it could have been hours, Diggle came too. He looked around in confusion, wondering where he was. He struggled to sit up, finally doing so. As his surroundings came back into focus, he spotted a familiar face. Across from him, leaning against another table and dressed in green leather and hood down, was Oliver Queen._

_"Hey." He said as Diggle looked at him in stunned silence._

_"Oliver?" Diggle asked, stunned. "You're that vigilante." He deduced, and then took a sloppy swing at the man. Oliver easily sidestepped the punch and Diggle ran into the table._

 

“Something tells me you’re not going to be very accepting of Ollie’s double life,” Laurel said frowning.

“Somehow I doubt it,” Diggle agreed.

 

_"Easy, Dig." He said calmly. "You were poisoned."_

_"Son of a bitch." Diggle groaned, throwing another punch. Oliver caught the man and leaned him back up against the other table. Diggle groaned and glared at the other man._

_"Come on." Oliver started. "I could have taken you anywhere, could have taken you home." He gestured around. "I brought you here."_

 

“Why is that?” Roy asked confused. “He could have just left you with a doctor or something.”

“I think he may be trying to recruit me. Bring me into the fold,” Diggle said curiously. “That’s kind of stupid. He doesn’t know whether or not I’ll tell the police.”

“I’m sure he has a plan,” Thea said. “He seems to have one for everything.”

 

_"You really did lose your mind on that island." Diggle observed._

_"Found a couple things along the way." Oliver replied._

_Diggle scoffed. "Like what, archery classes?"_

_"Clarity." He stated, taking a step closer to Digg. "Starling City is dying. It is being poisoned, by a criminal elite who don't care who they hurt, as long as they maintain their wealth and power." He espoused._

_"What are you gonna do, take 'em all down by your lonesome?" Diggle asked scathingly._

_"No." Oliver shook his head. "Now, I want you to join me."_

 

“Looks like you were right,” Tommy said. “He wants you to help him.”

“What do you think you’ll say,” Laurel asked.

“Probably no.”

 

_Diggle scoffed, but Oliver continued. "Special Forces out of Kandahar. It's perfect." He looked at Diggle. "You're a fellow soldier." He stated._

_Digg shook his head. "Oliver, you're not a soldier." He said. "You're a criminal. And a murderer." He spat, staggering out of the lair as Oliver sighed._

 

“Ok, you’re right on that one,” Laurel said. “I mean I see where Ollie is coming from, but still. I can’t get on board with killing.”

“I don’t doubt what he’s doing. Not anymore,” Diggle said firmly. “He’s doing the right thing.”

“I agree with Dig on this one,” Roy piped up from his spot on the couch. “The police are kind of useless in the glades. He might be able to make real change. Actually help people.”

“I just don’t know,” Laurel said looking back at the screen.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Manor, later that night. Oliver, back in his suit and tie, walked in and wearily started making his way up the stairs when a voice stopped him in his tracks._

_"Where were you?"_

 

“Well this won’t go well,” Thea said frowning.

 

_Oliver turned around to see Laurel at the bottom of the stairs he sighed. "What are you doing here?" he asked tiredly._

_"I heard about the shooting, and I wanted to make sure you were ok." She explained._

_"You did?"_

_"Yeah." Laurel looked at him sternly. "I knocked on the door, and I found a family terrified for you." Oliver sighed and laid his head against the post. "They had no idea where you were."_

 

“He was saving someone’s life,” Roy pointed out.

“Yeah but in this, I don’t know that,” Laurel responded.

 

_"Oh." He said simply. He had been so caught up in the moment that he had honestly forgotten about calling them so they knew he was alright._

_"Oliver, are you so self-centered that you don't think that people who care about you are gonna wonder where you are after you all got shot at?" Laurel started, but Oliver cut her off._

_"You're right." He said simply._

_Laurel stepped in closer. "I made peace with your selfishness a long time ago, but Moira, Thea, and Walter, they don't deserve that." She said simply. "They deserve better, someone who doesn't care only about himself." With that, she walked past him towards the front door._

 

“That was a little harsh,” Thea said glaring at Laurel. Laurel just winced and nodded in agreement.

 

_"Laurel," Oliver started, struggling to find something to say. Finally, he settled on, "Thank you for coming."_

_"I care about the lives of other people, Oliver." She replied. "Maybe you should try it sometime." With that, she walked out of the house._

 

Everyone in the room angrily turned towards Laurel who hid her head in her hands.

 

_Oliver threw his head back and sighed. "Oh, man." He muttered tiredly._

_"That was harsh." Thea walked up behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You ok?" she asked simply._

_"Sure," Oliver replied. "Second time tonight that a friend of mine has taken me to the woodshed. Kind of tires you out."_

 

Both Laurel and Diggle made a silent agreement to not do that when they got back.

 

_Yeah." Thea agreed. Oliver kissed her on the forehead._

_"Good night." He said, wearily walking up the stairs._

_"Good night." She called back._

_That night, Oliver once again dreamed of the Island. The scene flashed back to the cave. Oliver had pulled a photo of Laurel out of his wallet and was looking at it when Yao Fei came in, a bird in a hand-made bamboo cage. He set the cage down in front of Oliver._

_"Shengcún." He said._

_Oliver looked between him and the bird, uncomprehending. "What am I supposed to do with that?"_

_"Shengcún." Yao Fei repeated._

_"Does that mean 'bird'?" Oliver guessed._

_"Shengcún!"_

_"I don't speak Chinese!" he yelled back, frustrated. Yao Fei went back to his work, and Oliver returned to staring at the picture. "I'm sorry, Laurel. I'm so sorry."_

 

“He’s apologizing to me? Why me?” Laurel asked confused.

“Look I know my brother can be an ass. But he really did love you. He was just… scared.” Thea said thinking.

Laurel looked at Oliver on the screen with a wistful look on her face.

 

_Back in the present, Oliver shot awake, breathing hard. Giving up sleep, he threw on a robe and headed downstairs, thinking to watch some TV. He was surprised to find that Thea beat him to it; she was sitting on the couch in her own robe, munching on chips. A news report played on the TV._

_'There were no signs of forced entry or any evidence of a struggle, but, hours later, the police found that the bloodstained kitchen knife in the trunk…'_

_Thea noticed him. "Couldn't sleep, either?" she asked. Oliver shook his head and sat next to her._

_"No." he looked at the TV. "What are you watching?" he asked._

_"Peter Declan." She said simply._

 

“Isn’t that the guy that killed his wife?” Laurel asked looking at the tv.

“Yeah,” Tommy said darkly. “I don’t understand how anyone could ever do that.”

 

_"Hmm?" he said, confused._

_"The guy who killed his wife." She saw the uncomprehending look on his face. "Right. This guy killed his wife in their baby's room." She explained, leaning back into the couch. "Psycho." Oliver looked at the TV, where Declan was talking to a reporter in prison. 'Camille was everything to me.' He was saying. 'I couldn't kill her any more than I could kill myself.'_

_"So why can't you sleep?" Thea asked Oliver, pausing the TV._

_"Bad dreams." He said._

_"About?"_

_"Laurel." Oliver sighed._

_"So why don't you make a play?" Thea asked with a small smiled. "I mean, she did come over here just to make sure you didn't get shot."_

_"There are reasons," Oliver said. Thea gave him a look._

_"Mm, what are they?" she asked dryly, before listing several. "Besides you sleeping with her sister and her sister dying and her father hating your guts and you basically being a jerk to everybody since you've been back?"_

_Oliver nodded. "Those are the top ones." Thea bit back a smile._

_“I know that it might not seem like it sometimes, but I'm not the same person I used to be." Oliver tried to explain._

_"So show her," Thea replied. "Be yourself. I mean your new self." Oliver looked at his sister, considering her words._

 

“Ok. Knowing what I do now, I probably wouldn’t have phrased it like that,” Thea mused.

 

_The scene changed to the next day. Oliver came downstairs and walked into the sitting room, where Moira was sitting, reading the paper. In the back was a tall, white man in a suit that brought him up short._

_"How did you sleep?" Moira asked, not looking up from her paper._

_"Just fine, thank you." He said pleasantly. He looked to the new man. "We have a visitor."_

_"Hmm." Moira hummed. "Mr. Diggle's replacement."_

 

“Well, I figured I’d be pissed. But I honestly think I’d have done that,” Digg said with a surprised look on his face.

 

_"Replacement?" a chill went down his spine._

_"Yes." Moira said. "He tendered his resignation this morning."_

_"Did he say why?" Oliver asked, trying to stay cool. Moira finally put the paper down. "He said he didn't approve of the way you spend your evenings, particularly given that they always begin with you ditching him."_

 

“At least you didn’t turn him in,” Roy pointed out.

“Thank god for that,” Thea said smiling.

 

_Oliver silently breathed a sigh of relief. He walked up to the man and smiled, extending his hand._

_"Hi."_

_"Mr. Queen, Rob Scott." Rob introduced himself, shaking Oliver's hand. "I'll be your new body man."_

_"That's a firm grip you got there, Rob," Oliver said jovially._

_"That's 5 years SWAT with Monument Point M.C.U." he explained. Oliver nodded sagely._

_"I feel safer already."_

 

Thea leaned forward and took the remote before pausing the memory file.

“Ok. We’re placing bets. How long before Ollie ditches this Rob guy?” she said with mischief in her eyes.

“I don’t have any money to bet,” Roy said blandly.

“Well that's fine, you can bet something else,” Thea said smirking.

“Like what?” Roy asked.

“Well…” Thea said leaning over to Roy and whispering something in his ear. Roy smirked at whatever Thea had said.

“You're on Queen,” He said smiling. Laurel cleared her throat and the two teens turned towards her.

“You done?” She asked annoyed. Tommy was staring at Roy with an angry glare. Thea laughed awkwardly and Roy’s cheeks turned red. They quickly restarted the video.

 

_"Ah, thank God we don't have to hear about this awful man anymore," Moira said, drawing Oliver's attention. He looked back at the TV, where Declan was once again the focus of the news._

_'Declan's execution is set for midnight 2 days from now.' The news anchor was saying. 'Camille Declan's former employer, Jason Brodeur, released a statement saying, quote, 'I hope this gives Camille the peace she deserves.''_

_"Jason Brodeur?" Oliver remarked to himself._

_"What?" Moira asked, looking up at Oliver._

_"The dead wife worked for Jason Brodeur," Oliver said._

_"Apparently so." Moira looked at Olive curiously. "What-- why?"_

_"No reason," Oliver said lightly, and then turned to his new body man. "Say, Rob, I want to go into town. Could you please get the car for me?"_

 

“Why did he freak out when your mom mentioned Brodeur?” Laurel asked confused.

Thea shrugged. She had no idea.

 

_"No offense, Mr. Queen, but I have been filled in on your tendency to slip the leash," Rob said. "If it's all the same to you, I'd prefer keeping you in my sights at all times."_

_"We're 20 miles from the city." Oliver pointed out reasonably. "If you don't drive me, how else am I gonna get there?" He looked at the man. "Right?" Rob nodded awkwardly and left to get the car. Oliver looked down at his mother. "I like him." He remarked._

_Outside a few minutes later, Rob was standing by the Bentley. Suddenly, Oliver roared past him on his motorcycle. He gave a wave to Rob, who unthinkingly returned it. "Hey!" he shouted in vain._

 

“I win,” Roy said smirking. Thea sighed.

“Alright,” she said taking out her wallet. She handed Roy four hundreds. “But I wished I could have gotten your offer.”

 

_The scene shifted to the Foundry, where Oliver was researching the Declan case. 'They say Peter Declan murdered his wife in cold blood.' Oliver's voice said as he looked over various reports on his computer. 'He had no alibi, and all the evidence pointed toward him. He was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death, an open-and-shut case, except for one thing.' He pulled out the notebook and looked through it briefly, finally stopping when he found what he was looking for- Jason Brodeur's name. 'Declan's wife Camille worked for Jason Brodeur. And Jason Brodeur is on the list.'_

 

Realization dawned on the group instantly.

“He was framed,” Laurel exclaimed. That wasn’t good. There was an overwhelming amount of evidence pinning the murder to an innocent man. As soon as she got back she had to work on getting his name cleared.

“It looks like it,” Diggle said frowning.

“Oh my god, he’s on deaths row though. He’s going to die!” Thea said panicking.

“Relax,” Roy said smoothly. “I’m sure you’re brother will take care of this.”

 

_At an undisclosed location, a well-dressed man was reading about Declan's upcoming execution. He looked up from his paper. "Mr. Brodeur." He said respectfully._

_"Admiring your handiwork?" Brodeur asked the man, a smile on his face._

_"You should have just let me kill both of 'em."_

_"Peter Declan is worth more alive," Brodeur argued. "'Husband kills wife' is a much better headline than 'whistle-blower uncovers toxic dumping,' don't you think?" He sighed happily. "Either way, 48 hours, all this'll be over."_

 

 

“That son of a bitch!” Roy shouted angrily.

 

_Back at the Foundry, Oliver was making new arrows. 'The odds are good that Brodeur is involved in this woman's murder, which means an innocent man is facing execution.' Oliver sat back at his desk, pulling out his worn photograph of Laurel. He looked up, thinking. 'He'll need a good attorney.'_

 

“He’s going to ask for my help?” Laurel said blankly.

“Do you think you’ll say yes?” Thea asked.

“I honestly don’t know.”

 

_The scene changed to CNRI, where Laurel was busy gathering papers. Joanna walked over to her._

_"So I take it there's absolutely no point in asking if you'd like to grab a drink?" she asked._

_"I can't." Laurel said, closing out her computer. "I have to go over transcripts for the Fernands case."_

_"You know, if you go somewhere that's not work or your home, your odds of meeting someone increase by, like, a gazillion percent." Joanna noted._

_"Oh, that's not true. I could still get mugged on the way home." Laurel argued, throwing her bag on her shoulder._

_"In that case, I hope he's cute and single."_

_"Good night, Joanna." Laurel said as she walked out of the building._

_Laurel made her way back to her apartment without incident. As she entered, she went to turn the light on- but nothing happened._

_She flicked the switch a couple more times, but the light stayed off. She glanced up at the light in confusion, and then cautiously made her way further into her apartment. She looked into her living room and saw the curtain blowing from the wind coming through an open window. Panicked, but controlled, Laurel opened the lower drawer of her desk and pulled out a handgun. She pulled back the slide to chamber a round. Suddenly she felt someone behind her. She spun, pointing her gun at the intruder. Across from her, The Hood stood. Unseen to her, he clicked on a voice modulator he held in his hand._

_"Hello, Laurel." He said._

 

“Well, at least we know your prepared if anyone ever does break into your apartment,” Tommy said lightly.

 

_"Don't move!" Laurel shouted, holding the gun steady on The Hood._

_"I'm not gonna hurt you." Oliver said holding out his bow and switching it over to his non-dominate hand. He started to slowly walk towards her._

_"Stay back." Laurel said, gun held steady. "My father's a cop. You are making a huge mistake."_

 

“That’s really not ever going to do anything you know,” Roy said. “If you ever come across a real criminal, it’d probably just piss them off.”

 

_"I'm not the person you think I am," Oliver started, "and I need your help. Peter Declan is gonna be executed in 48 hours. I think he's innocent." He explained. "Declan's wife was gonna blow the whistle on Jason Brodeur. Brodeur had her murdered." He was now an arm's length from the woman._

_"There are a thousand lawyers in Starling City." She reasoned. "Why me?" Oliver gently reached out and pushed the gun down to point at the floor. Laurel didn't resist._

_"We're both trying to help." Oliver said._

_"What makes you sure I'm gonna help you?" she asked. Oliver walked behind her._

_"Because I know you'd do anything to save the life of an innocent man." The Hood stated truthfully. Laurel thought for a moment, and then turned around- but the Hood was gone._

 

“That will probably get annoying when he comes back,” Thea said smiling.

 

_The scene changed to the next morning, where Laurel was visiting Declan in Iron Heights Penitentiary._

 

“Looks like I decided to listen to him,” Laurel said.

 

_"A jury has charged you as guilty, Mr. Declan." She remarked calmly, staring at the man._

_"The evidence was stacked against me, but I didn't kill my wife." He asserted, sliding a photo of is baby daughter to the lawyer. "I didn't take my daughter's mother from her."_

_Laurel looked at the picture for a few moments, then looked back up at Declan. "The murder weapon was a knife from kitchen with prints on it." She said. "It was found, along with Camille's blood, in the trunk of car. Your neighbors said they heard an argument that night." She pressed on. Declan stood and began to pace._

_"We had a knockdown fight over Jason Brodeur." He said finally, looking at Laurel. "Camille worked for him, and his company had been dumping toxic waste into The Glades. Now, Camille told me that she'd gone and told a supervisor about it." He took a breath. "I was afraid for my family's safety. And we argued very loudly, yes. Izzy started crying, so Camille went and stayed in her room." He dropped back into his seat wearily. "In the morning, I went to apologize, and that's when I found her. So I just grabbed Izzy, and I ran outside, and I called 911." Laurel leaned forward. "I'm innocent, Ms. Lance." He reasserted, and Laurel believed him._

 

“Well you certainly have your work cut out for you,” Diggle said. “That evidence is pretty damning.”

 

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated, where Moira was walking into Walter's office._

_"Well, it looks like someone forgot a lunch date with his wife." She said lightly. Walter looked up at her, his eye glasses perched on the end of his nose._

_"What do you mean?" he asked, confused "Lunch isn't for another-" he looked at his watch and blanched slightly. He pulled off his glasses. "I'm so sorry."_

_"It's all right." Moira laughed lightly. "The restaurant is holding our table." She watched as Walter hurriedly straightened up his desk to leave. "Is there something wrong?"_

_"Compliance department has tagged something, $2.6 million withdrawal from one of our Vancouver subsidiaries." He stated._

_A flicker of panic flitted across Moira's face, but she schooled her features before Walter even had a chance to notice. With forced casualness she asked "What--you mean-- are you saying that someone embezzled $2.6 million from the company?"_

 

“My mom is hiding something,” Thea says narrowing her eyes.

 

_"Well, it's probably a bookkeeping error, but compliance is understandably worried about an IRS audit." Walter hurriedly grabbed his jacket from a nearby chair. Mistaking his wife's worry, he smiled. "But don't worry. I'm sure it's nothing." He assured her, holding out his arm. "Come on. We're gonna be late. I mean, later!" Moira smiled and took his arm, walking with him out of the office. The scene changed to the SCPD, where Laurel was perched on Quentin's desk, staring at his board. Front and center was the sketch of The Hood._

_"Well, I wasn't the lead on this," Quentin said, coming back into the squad room carrying the Declan case file, "but from what I recall, we had fingerprints. We had blood. We got motive, everything." He told his daughter, sitting next to her on the desk's edge._

_"Brodeur seems like the type of guy with resources needed to frame someone." Laurel noted. Quentin looked at his daughter._

_"Laurel, in 24 hours, Peter Declan is lying down with a needle in his arm, and he's not getting up." He stated. "If I thought for a second we didn't have the right guy, do you think there's anything else I'd be doing right now except trying to get at what really happened?"_

 

“That is really stupid,” Roy said. “Your dad is saying that the fact a kitchen knife that belongs to him had his fingerprints on it and that one argument is equal to motive.”

“Yeah that seems pretty flimsy to me,” Diggle said.

 

_Laurel took the file and looked through it. "Declan said his wife went to her supervisor with allegations that Brodeur was dumping toxic waste." Laurel put in._

_"Yeah, but that supervisor, he said that never happened." He noted. Quentin took back the file and flipped it. "Let me see. What was his name?" he flipped a couple of pages, then pointed. "Here you go. Istook, Matt Istook. He said he didn't even see Camille that day." He looked back at Laurel. "Happy now?"_

_Laurel clapped him on the leg. "Yes." She said, getting up._

_As she started to leave, Quentin called after her. "You know, I thought it'd be a cold day in hell before you started defending criminals." He said. Laurel turned to him and gave him a tight, lawyer smile._

_"I'm not so sure Declan's a criminal." She replied. "Like you said, he's on a clock. Can't leave any stone unturned." With that, she left. Quentin sighed._

_"Oh, yeah." He muttered, getting back to work._

 

“Its like he doesn’t even know me,” Laurel said shaking her head. “I’m clearly not going to let that go.”

 

_The scene changed to Big Belly Burger, where Carly was delivering food to Digg. He was seated in a booth, his left arm in a sling._

_"So when are you gonna tell me?" she asked._

_"Hmm?" Digg hummed, not paying attention._

_"About what happened to your arm?" She nodded at the sling. Digg looked up in surprise, then plastered on a confident smile_

_"Oh, it's my shoulder, and it's…its fine." He lied._

 

Roy looked at Diggle amused.

“Yep. Your arm is in a sling, but it’s completely fine. No injuries or anything.”

 

_Carly scoffed. "I knew that Queen guy was trouble." She noted._

_"Hey, I never said this happened protecting Queen." Diggle replied._

_"Oh, yeah?" she asked, looking up at the entrance. "Then what's he doing here?"_

_Diggle looked around in surprise to see Oliver walking in, followed closely by Rob._

_"Area is secure, sir." Rob said._

 

Everyone laughed. This Rob guy was unbearably ignorant.

 

_"Thank you very much, Rob." Oliver replied dryly. He walked towards Diggle's booth. "Hello, Diggle's sister-in-law Carly." He said jovially, extending his hand. "I'm Oliver Queen."_

_Carly took it and gave him a curt shake. "I know who you are." She replied, unsmiling._

_"No, you really don't." Digg put in. Oliver sat down and Carly walked off._

_"Hello." He started. "I couldn't help but notice a distinct lack of police cars when I got home. I knew you wouldn't drop a dime on me. So have you considered my offer?"_

_"Offer? Digg scoffed. "That's one hell of a way to put it."_

_"It is an offer. It's a chance to do the kind of good that compelled you to join the military." He tried._

_"Please." Digg shot back. "You were born with a platinum spoon in your mouth, Queen. What, you spent 5 years on an island with no room service, and suddenly you found religion?" he scoffed again, shaking his head._

 

“That was uncalled for,” Diggle said solemnly. “I know I haven’t technically said that, but I feel like I need to apologize.”

 

_Oliver pulled out the small notebook and placed it on the table. "This was my father's." he said, as Diggle gave the book a cursory look. "I found it when I buried him."_

_Digg looked up. "I thought you said your father died when the boat went down."_

_"We both made it to a life raft, but there wasn't enough food and water for both of us, so he shot himself in the head." He explained to a shocked Diggle. "And as much as he was doing it to give me a chance to survive, I believe that he was also atoning for his sins. I need to right the wrongs done by my family," he pleaded quietly, "and I'm offering you the chance to right the wrongs done to yours."_

_Digg leaned forward. "Oliver, what are you talking about?"_

_"The police never caught your brother's shooter." Oliver started, but Digg cut him off angrily._

 

“That will either be what brings me to my senses, or…” Diggle trails off.

“Or be what makes you go to the police,” Roy finished for him. Diggle nodded in agreement.

 

_"Hey, you leave Andy out of this."_

_"The bullets were laced with curare." Oliver continued. "That's Floyd Lawton's M.O. He is the sniper that I stopped." He finished, looking Digg in the eye._

_"Are you trying to tell me that you took down Andy's killer?" he asked, unbelievingly._

_"I'm…I'm giving you the chance, a chance to help other people's families." Oliver replied. He looked at the bodyguard earnestly. "Do you remember when the people in this city helped each other? They can't do that anymore, because a group of people- people like my father- they see nothing wrong with raising themselves up by stepping on other people's throats." Diggle sat back, considering his words. "It does need to stop, and if it's not gonna be the courts and it's not gonna be the cops, then it's gonna be me." He stood, taking the notebook. He looked at Diggle. "And, I hope, you." He finished._

 

“I hope I come around,” Diggle said staring at the screen. “He made some really good points.”

 

_Rob walked over to Oliver, who stopped him with a raised hand. "I'm gonna go to the washroom, Rob." He said, then turned and headed to the restrooms. Rob took up position next to Diggle, who was mulling over his words. After a few moments, Digg looked up at the hapless bodyguard._

_"Oh, that boy's long gone, man." He said. Rob looked up in consternation._

 

Everyone burst out laughing at the earnest statement.

 

_The scene changed to later that night at Queen Manor, where Walter was busy working on his laptop._

_"You still following the money trail?" Moira asked, coming into the room_

_"Mm-hmm." Walter said absently._

_"Don't we have accountants for that sort of thing?"_

_"They're being singularly ineffective in this instance." Walter noted sourly._

_"Well, then it's fortunate that I've solved the mystery." Moira said with a guilty smile. "I think I'm the culprit." Walter looked up in confusion. Moira perched herself on the edge of the opposite couch and continued. "$2.6 million is a rather specific figure. That's the exact amount the company invested in a friend's start-up venture 3 years ago." Walter chuckled, and Moira smiled. "I will call accounting. They'll clean it all up." She announced. "Then there's nothing to worry about."_

_"Ok." Walter said, smiling back at his wife. Moira turned and left the room, and Walter sat back into the couch, his smile fading to a look of concern._

 

“Your mom is a really shitty liar,” Roy said turning to face Thea.

“Yeah Walter isn’t buying that for a second,” Tommy added.

 

_The scene changed to CNRI. Joanna walked up to Laurel, who had her nose buried in a file. "You really are putting a lot of hours into this Declan thing." She noted. "You actually think he's innocent."_

_"Someone does." Laurel replied absently._

_"So you said, but you didn't say who." Laurel looked around, then came up close to Joanna._

_"The guardian angel." She whispered._

 

“Well it looks like the you in these memories got on board with Oliver’s crusade faster than you are now,” Diggle said laughing at the comment.

“I have to say it's growing on me.” Laurel agreed. “But killing is still wrong,” she added seriously.

 

_Joana's face lit up in comprehension._

_"The guy in the hood?" she exclaimed quietly. "Look, you're-- you're kidding…"_

_"He tracked me down and asked me to look into the Declan case." Laurel confided._

_"But you've met him?" Joanna interrupted._

_"But he goes against everything that I was ever taught to believe in." Laurel said. "He breaks the law and God knows what else."_

_"How are you not afraid that he is gonna do God knows what to you?" her friend demanded. Laurel shook her head._

_"He won't." she said confidently. "I don't know. I can feel it."_

 

“Ok that's really cheesy,” Thea said smirking at Laurel. Tommy shifted uncomfortably.

 

_"You know, when I told you to meet someone, this is far, far away from what I meant." Joanna remarked. Laurel just shrugged her shoulders._

Everyone around the room laughed with the exception of Laurel who just had her cheeks turn red.

 

_The scene changed to a rooftop later that night, where Laurel stood across from The Hood._

_"I got your message." She called across the room. "Is there a reason we can't do this face to face?"_

_"You've met with Peter Declan." He ignored her question._

_"You were right." She said, walking closer to him. He stubbornly kept his face out of direct view. "He might be innocent. Declan said his wife blew the whistle on Brodeur the day she was murdered."_

_Oliver paced past Laurel, keeping his face as concealed as possible. "Then we need to get whoever she told about Brodeur to testify." He determined._

_"He already has." Laurel replied. "Matt Istook, Camille's supervisor. Only, he says that she didn't say a word to him."_

_"He could be lying." Oliver said._

_"Well, if he is, then he's very convincing. He had the jury and police believing him."_

_"He hasn't been questioned by me." Oliver said harshly._

_"I didn't become a lawyer to break the law or hurt anybody." Laurel argued._

_"I do what's necessary, what people like Peter Declan need." Oliver stated plainly._

_"If what you're doing isn't wrong, then why are you hiding your face with a hood?" Laurel countered._

_"To protect the ones I care about." The Hood replied softly._

 

“What?” Tommy asked incredulously. “How on earth could he believe that.”

“I get not telling the rest of the world. That’ll keep the crazies off our doorsteps. But wouldn’t keeping us in the loop be a better option for protection?” Laurel added.

“Oliver is probably scared of what you’ll think of him,” Roy said.

“Plus, for him keeping his two lives separate makes it easier to put on the hood. Keeps the vigilante as a separate person. It also keeps you away from dangerous situations. It's lonely, but sometimes being alone is less scary,” Diggle added.

“Then why is he letting you in?” Thea asked.

“Because I’m an outsider. Someone he didn’t know before the island. That won’t compare him to who he used to be. And I am somewhat expendable to him. Plus better trained.”

Everyone contemplated the reasons for Oliver’s secrecy as Diggle resumed the video.

 

_“That sounds lonely."_

_"It can be." He agreed, his tone hardening "But not today." With that, he shot an arrow at a neighboring building and jumped off the roof, swinging away on the line that had been attached as Laurel looked on in astonishment._

_The scene shifted to later that night at Queen Consolidated. The elevator opened on the empty executive floor, and Felicity stalked off and headed towards Walter's office. Without knocking, she barged in and confronted the man, who was sitting behind his desk._

_"I've got one question. Why am I being fired?" she demanded._

_"Ms. Smoak, isn't it?" he clarified._

_"Yes." She responded, and then pressed on. "And I am without a doubt the single most valuable member of your technical division. That's including my so-called 'supervisor'. Letting me go would be a major error for this company."_

 

“Wow that is so not a way to talk to your boss. Even if you thought you were being fired,” Thea said taken aback.

“Yeah my dad of had her packing her things if she’d said something like that to him,” Tommy agreed.

 

_"I agree, which is why you're not being fired." Walter replied calmly, bringing Felicity up short. The righteous indignation died._

_"Uh, I assumed when you brought me up here, it was because-" she drew her thumb across her throat, miming her throat being slit._

_"It's because I wanted you to look into something for me." Walter said, handing Felicity a folder. She took it at once. "A variance of $2.6 million on a failed investment from 3 years ago. It was authorized by my wife. I was hoping you could find out some of the details of the transaction for me."_

 

“This isn’t going to end well,” Diggle noted.

“Yeah whoever your mom is involved with is probably dangerous,” Roy added.

 

_"Find out…" Felicity looked up from the folder at Walter._

_"Dig up discreetly." He said, giving her a look._

_Felicity smiled. "I'm your girl." She said, turning to leave. She paused on the way out and turned back to Walter. "I mean, I'm not your girl. I wasn't making a pass at you." She clarified. Walter gave her a thin smile. "Thank you for not firing me." She said as she walked out the door. Walter leaned back in his chair, a look on his face that screamed 'What an odd girl'._

_The scene changed to a parking lot, as Matt Istook turned off the alarm for his Porsche 911. He put his bag in the passenger seat and opened the door to get in, when he felt a sudden sting at the back of his neck. He reached back, and pulled free a dart. He looked at it, uncomprehending. "What the…" he started, before the tranquilizer took effect and he passed out. When he awoke, he was laying on a set of railroad tracks. Blearily he started to sit up, reaching up to rub his face. His arm jerked to a stop and he stared, seeing the handcuff that chained him to the rail._

 

“Oh my god, Oliver’s gonna kill him!” Tommy shouted.

“No, I think this is just an interrogation tactic,” Diggle said.

“Yeah if he did kill them that would mean losing his only lead,” Roy added. Laurel and Tommy seemed unconvinced shooting each other worried glances.

 

_"Matt Istook."_

_He looked up in alarm to see The Hood standing there, bow in hand, his face hidden in the shadow of his hood._

_"You're him, that hood guy." He observed. "You're the guy that's been terrorizing the city."_

_"Peter Declan, your lies helped put him on death row." He snarled. A train whistle sounded in the near distance. "Now, either it's time to tell me the truth, or it's time for the 10:15 to Blüdhaven."_

_"O-ok. Ok, I—" he stuttered, seeing the train closing in on them far behind the Hood. "Brodeur paid me to…to say that Camille never spoke to me, but I didn't have anything to do with her death."_

 

“That bastard may as well have sentenced her husband to death though,” Laurel said bitterly.

 

_The train grew closer. "Oh, God, please. I'll do anything." He pleaded. "Y-you could have the file!"_

_"What file?" The Hood demanded._

_"Camille gave me a file of evidence against Jason Brodeur." The train grew larger behind the Hood._

_"Where is it?!" The hood demanded._

_"Let me go, and I'll tell you!" Istook pleaded. The Hood ignored his pleas and walked past him, leaving him to the approaching train. "Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Don't go! It's in my desk! The file, it's in my desk at the office! You can have it!" The train was mere feet in front of him. "Get me out of here!" Suddenly an arrow broke the cuff, and Istook threw himself to the side off the tracks, just as the train whizzed by._

 

Tommy and Laurel let out a breath of relief as Oliver let the man live.

 

_Oliver watched the sobbing man through the passing train cars, and remembered when he once begged._

_The scene flashed back to Lian Yu. In the cave, Yao Fei was cooking a rat on a stick. Oliver, near delirious with hunger, took notice._

_"What is that?" he asked wearily, crawling over to the man who sat stoically in front of the fire. "I'm so hungry. It smells really good." He reached a hand out towards the cooking rat-_

_And Yao Fei's hand suddenly lashed out, grabbing and twisting Oliver's hand away. With a shove he sent the boy crashing to the floor of the cave._

_"Aah!" Oliver exclaimed, more in surprise than in pain. "Hey, fine. Don't share."_

 

“Why won’t that guy give Ollie any food?” Thea asked worriedly. “He needs to eat.”

“I have no idea,” Roy said shaking his head.

 

_Yao Fei grunted. He looked at the boy, then pointed to the bird. He mimed ringing the bird's neck. "Shengcún." He repeated._

_Oliver looked at the bird, then back at Yao Fei. "I'm not gonna kill the bird." He said, indignant._

_The Asian man just stared back, and popped a bit of cooked rat into his mouth. "Shengcún." He said once more._

 

“He wants Oliver to learn to survive himself,” Diggle realized. “Oliver has to kill the bird if he wants to eat.” Everyone, excluding Diggle and Roy, paled at the statement.

 

_Back in the present, Laurel was working late at CNRI. Alone in the office, she was startled when the lights suddenly went out. She glanced around nervously, and then jumped slightly when a file folder landed on her desk. Tentatively, she picked it up and gave it a cursory look._

_"Compliments of Matt Istook." The Hood said from across the room._

_"What's in here?" she asked._

_"Leverage on Jason Brodeur, enough to help save Peter Declan's life."_

_Laurel looked through the file. "As an attorney, I never would have gotten a file like this." She looked up at The Hood. "I always thought the law was sacred, I-it fixed everything." She explained._

 

“And what world do you live on exactly?” Roy asked. He seemed upset as he continued. “The law is wrong most of the time. The police are corrupt. The rich get away with murder but if the poor stand on the wrong side of the street they get sentenced to ten years. The world is broken and hoping that the law solves every problem is naive.” Roy finished. He seethed in on his seat on the couch and Thea lay a comforting hand on his shoulder.

 

_"And now, Laurel?" he asked. "Now what do you think?"_

_"I think there are too many people in this city who only care about themselves… people who are selfish. I think they need someone who cares about the lives of other people someone like you." She looked back down at the file to study it some more. Suddenly the lights came back on, and she looked up to see The Hood had vanished._

_The scene shifted back to Queen Manor, where Oliver came in. He was smiling, observing the pictures on the small table by the door._

_"What is wrong with your face?" she asked._

_"What do you mean?" Oliver replied, worried that some of the grease paint was still over his eyes. Her next words dispelled his fears and caused a broad grin to break out on his face_

_"There's something really weird on it, like this thing with your mouth." She said, grinning herself. "It…it looks like it's in the shape of a smile." She teased._

 

Thea smirked at her future self’s comment.

 

_"That's cute." He said._

_"So why are you grinning?" Thea asked._

_"I took your advice with Laurel to be myself." He said simply. "And it's helping."_

_Thea grinned triumphantly. "Got mad relationship skills, bro." she said. "Let me know if you need trendy places to propose."_

 

“Woah you are way ahead of yourself there,” Laurel said to Thea.

 

_"I think you're getting a little bit ahead of yourself." He said. She looked at him slyly, and he held up his thumb and forefinger, pinching them together. "Little bit." The front door burst opened, and Rob strolled in wearily, his jacket over his arm and a defeated expression on his face. "Rob." Oliver smiled. "You gotta keep up." He said, heading for his room, leaving the broken man behind._

 

Diggle had to laugh at that one. At least he wasn’t the only one Oliver would ditch.

 

_The scene shifted to the next day at CNRI. Quentin Lance hurriedly walked in, heading straight for Laurel, who was busily typing away. "Hey, you look busy." He stated. "Is that the Declan case? You know, it was a funny development on that. Matt Istook." He noted, "He, uh, filed a police report. He said The Hood harassed him last night." He looked at Laurel. "And that's funny, because I gave my daughter Istook's name."_

 

“Shit,” Laurel said under her breath. Her dad was going to be difficult to convince.

 

_"Dad-" she started, but Quentin cut her off. "He's a vigilante." He snarled. "He's a damn criminal, and you working with him, that makes you an accessory!"_

_"I am trying to save an innocent man's life." Laurel argued._

_"No. You're breaking the law."_

_"Well, I wouldn't have to if the police would have done their job right in the first place." She shot back. Quentin looked stricken._

 

“Well look at that someone does have a backbone,” Roy said dryly. Laurel turned to him and glared.

 

_"I asked you how you got this case." He started. "You lied to me straight to my face, eh? I thought you and I didn't do that." He gave her one last look. "Guess I was wrong." he finished, turning and walking out of the building._

_The scene shifted to the courthouse, where Laurel was arguing her case before Judge Moss._

_"The mere existence of the file proves that Mr. Istook perjured himself for Jason Brodeur's benefit." She was arguing._

_"That's slander." A voice cut her off. She turned to see Brodeur, with his lawyer and two bodyguards, walk in the room. "Jared Swanstrom, Your Honor." The man who spoke said. "I represent Jason Brodeur and Brodeur Chemical."_

 

“Are you freaking kidding me,” Laurel said exasperated.

 

_"The interest of justice requires you to stay the defendant's execution pending exploration of the newly discovered evidence." Laurel continued, ignoring the new people in the room._

_Judge Moss looked at Laurel evenly. "Ours isn't a court of justice, Ms. Lance." She stated. "It's a court of law, and under the law, I don't think your evidence is sufficient to warrant a stay of execution. Your motion for habeas corpus is denied." She finished, returning to her paperwork._

 

“Not a court of justice? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Laurel shouted angrily.

“It's even in the name. The Justice system,” Thea said annoyed. “I can’t believe this.”

 

_Laurel turned and walked out. Before she left, though, she stopped in front of Brodeur._

_"This isn't over." She said defiantly. "I've got the loose end now, and no matter what happens, I am going to pull on it until your whole world unravels." She threatened, walking out and leaving a very worried Brodeur behind._

 

“That was a really bad idea,” Roy said looking at Laurel. “You’ve already seen that he’s willing to kill for this secret. This guy is powerful. He will end you if you threaten him.”

 

_The scene changed to Brodeur's office later that day, where the businessman was worriedly ranting to his bodyguard. "Declan's lawyer's pulling me into this!" he exclaimed. "I'm gonna go to prison, if not for murder, then this-- this dumping thing."_

_"That won't happen." The bodyguard assured him. "There are steps we can take."_

_"You saw her." He argued. "She's going after me."_

_The bodyguard sighed. "She's gonna want to meet with her client after what happened in court today. We have friends up in Iron Heights. Prison can be a dangerous place." He remarked calmly._

 

Tommy glanced over at Laurel with concern.

 

_The scene changed to later that night, where Laurel was meeting with the Hood on the roof of CNRI._

_"We're not done yet." The Hood stated._

_"I'm an attorney." Laurel countered with a sigh. "Trust me. We're done."_

_"What do you need to free Peter Declan?" he asked._

_"At this point, nothing short of a signed confession from Brodeur." The Hood turned to leave. "Where are you going?" she asked._

_"To get a confession." He replied._

 

“Do you think he’ll get it?” Asked Laurel hopefully.

“I’m honestly not sure.”

 

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated, where Felicity was filling Walter in on what she found._

_"The company Mrs. Queen-- or Steele." She paused, a stray thought catching her attention, "Mrs. Queen-Steele. Does she hyphenate? She seems like a woman who would hyphenate." Walter cleared his throat and sat back at his desk, looking at her expectantly. "Right. The company she invested in doesn't exist."_

_"I don't understand." Walter said, confused._

_"There was no investment." Felicity explained. "The money was used to set up an offshore LLC called Tempest."_

_"I don't recall that name being under the Queen Consolidated banner." He remarked._

_"'Cause it's not." She replied. "There's nothing registered with the Secretary of State, no federal tax records, no patent applications filed. But in 2009, Tempest purchased a warehouse in Starling City." She handed the folder to Walter, who smiled in gratitude. Felicity smiled and left as Walter looked over the file._

 

“That situation just keeps getting worse and worse,” Diggle noted.

“Yeah your step dad should be careful with what he does from here,” Roy agreed.

 

_The scene changed to Big Belly Burger, where Diggle was once again eating. Carly came up to him._

_"Enough moping." She stated. Diggle smiled at her as she took a seat across from him. "You quit. It's done. My advice would be to move on."_

_"Well, if it were only that easy." Dig said, rubbing his face._

_"Except it is." Carly said. "Personal security is dangerous. Your nephew already lost his father. He can't lose his uncle, too."_

_Dig thought for a long moment. "Does it ever bother you," he began, "that they never caught the guy who killed Andy?" He paused, gathering his thoughts. "You know, when I was in Afghanistan, I had a job, and I did it. And when I could, I would help out the people there so that, in some small way, when I left, I could believe I left it a better place." He sighed. "But ever since I've been home, all I do is protect punks and spoiled one percenters."_

_Carly smiled. "Yeah."_

_"I miss feeling like I'm making a difference in the world." He announced, seeming to just come to the realization._

_"Then get out of personal security and go do something you believe in." Carly said._

_"Yeah, what if it's wrong?" he countered._

_"John, if you believe in something, how can it be wrong?" she asked simply._

 

“That was one hell of a speech,” Thea complimented.

“You think you’ll join now?” Laurel asked.

“Probably.”

 

_The scene changed to Brodeur's office, where the businessman was being held at arrow-point by The Hood._

_"What do you want?" he asked fearfully._

_"You're gonna confess that you arranged to have Peter Declan's wife murdered." The Hood growled._

_"What, so I can take his place in prison?"_

_"So you can avoid the death penalty."_

_"Except if I'm dead, well, then, you've got no one to pin Camille's murder on." Brodeur realized, confidence slowly returning. "You need me to exonerate Peter Declan. Maybe you could try to force me to sign a confession or something-" his boasting cut off with a scream as The Hood shot an arrow through his hand._

 

Laurel and Thea gasped at Oliver’s brutality.

 

_"That might be difficult." The Hood remarked._

_Bordure was saved by the bell, literally, as his phone began to ring. The Hood walked over and pulled the phone out of his jacket. "Just answer it." He connected the call._

_"What?" Brodeur said pain in his voice._

_"It's Ankov." His bodyguard said over the phone. "It's going down, one hour." The Hood snarled and hung up the phone._

_"What's going down in an hour?" he demanded. "What?!"_

_"Let's just say Peter Declan's execution, it's getting moved up." Brodeur replied. Oliver hit him with the bow, knocking him out._

_The scene changed to Iron Heights, where Laurel was talking with Declan._

_"We still have a shot." Laurel was telling him. "Do you remember the friend that I mentioned, the one who believes in you? He is working on something."_

 

“You need to get out of there! Now!” Tommy yelled at the on screen Laurel.

 

_Outside, The Hood put a guard in a sleeper hold, knocking him out. He then quickly stripped the guard and started to put on the uniform._

_"I told you, Jason Brodeur is powerful." Declan told Laurel._

_At a back door, a guard opened it to reveal Ankov, Brodeur's bodyguard. Ankov handed the guard an envelope and took a bundle of clothes from him. "Time to unlock the cages." He said._

_"I've been here before." Declan continued. "These lawyers holding out these little nuggets of hope."_

_And then the lights went out, alarms started blaring, and the shouting began as Declan and Laurel looked on helplessly. The guard in the room was listening to his radio._

 

Everyone held their breath as the scene unfolded. They were all worried for Laurel’s safety.

 

_'Secure all corners in cell block "C".' he looked to Laurel. "The warden's setting up a secure perimeter in "C" block." He said. "Stay here, Ms. Lance." He ordered, leaving the room._

_“Wait!" Laurel yelled. She looked out the door and saw prisoners running through the halls, jumping guards. Making a decision, she gestured to Declan and the two fled the visitors' room._

 

“What the hell do you think you are doing,” Roy asked. “That’s the fastest way to get yourself killed.”

 

_They ran down a hall and landed in a juncture filled with prisoners. She watches as they beat a guard unconscious. One of the goons looked up._

_"There's Lance." He said, picking up the guards gun._

_Before he could point it at her, an arrow hit him in the shoulder, sending him to the ground. Laurel turned to see a disguised Hood, wearing a guards uniform with a ski mask, holding his bow._

_"Let's go."_

 

“Oh thank god,” Thea said in relief.

“Don’t get your hopes up just yet,” Diggle said. “They’re still in the prison.”

 

_He led them back into the hall, stopping briefly only to beat back some of the prisoners to give them room. "Go!" he called out, leading them down the hall. At the far end he saw cops with riot shields moving in formation towards them. He steered them to an open doorway. "In here."_

_The three entered the room, The Hood leading the way. Suddenly The Hood was sucker punched by Ankov, who sent him sprawling to the ground, dazed. Next the muscle grabbed Laurel, throwing her into a chain link fence that portioned the room, and then flung her back to the floor. She hit hard, dazed, and Ankov got on top of her, putting his hands around her throat._

_Oliver cleared his head and looked over. Seeing Laurel being choked, he saw red and launched himself at Ankov, tackling him off the lawyer. He started throwing elbows and forearms at the bodyguards face, not stopping, not letting up. Laurel shakily got to her feet and staggered over, placing a hand on his arm. "Stop!" she said hoarsely, Oliver shot up, backing away from her and slowly coming back to his senses. Before anything else could happen, though, the riot cops entered. Laurel immediately back to the wall._

 

“I’m going to think he’s a monster now,” Laurel said sadly. “He almost killed that guard.”

“Why was he being so brutal?” Thea asked softly.

“Because someone he cared about was being threatened,” Roy explained. “Anyone of us could do the same thing without realizing it.

 

_"Laurel." He whispered brokenly as Declan and Ankov were secured. Then he faded into the background, mixing in among the other guards and making his way out of the prison._

_The scene changed to later outside the entrance to Iron Heights. Laurel was seated on the hood of a police car as Quentin ran up to her._

_"Laurel" he called out, breathless, pulling her into a hug, "Sweetie. What are you-" he started._

_"I'm all right." Laurel cut him off._

_"You sure?"_

_"I'm sorry about what I said to you." She said. Quentin sighed._

_"Yeah, well, you were right." He told her. "Ankov just confessed to Camille Declan's murder. We got the wrong guy." He finished sadly. The he looked at his daughter. "Now, listen to me, Laurel. I'm right, too, about him. He's dangerous. He's outside the law."_

_"I know." She said, surprising him. "He's a killer." From the roof of the prison, Oliver watched Laurel and Quentin talk. He pulled off the ski mask as she continued. "He would have killed that man. I looked in his eyes—it was like he had no remorse."_

 

Diggle shook his head. People just didn’t understand what happened to people who have been on a battlefield. Roy was at least taking this better than everyone else, but the rest of them were starting to get on his nerves. They couldn’t comprehend what was going on.

 

_Oliver closed his eye in pain, and once more the scene flashed back to the cave._

_Oliver stared at the bird in the cage, and then looked back up at Yao Fei. "Hey, please." He pleaded. "I'm starving. I never killed anything before." The man continued to ignore him. Oliver looked back at the bird, and slowly he took it out of the cage. "I'm sorry." He whispered. He looked up at the ceiling of the cave as he put his hand around the bird's neck and twisted, snapping the spine and killing the bird. Yao Fei glanced at him, before he went back to work on making new traps._

 

Thea cried as she watched Oliver kill his first animal. It was his first step to becoming a completely different person. A stranger.

 

_Back in the present, Quentin put his jacket on Laurel. "Let's get you home, sweetie." He said, walking with her back to his car. "How'd he get into that prison, anyway, huh?" he asked suddenly, stopping and looking at Laurel. "A grown man in an outfit and a hood, that kind of stands out a little, doesn't it?"_

_"He actually wasn't wearing the outfit this time." Laurel said. "He was in a prison guard uniform and a ski mask." Quentin looked at her, and then looked away, thinking. "What?" she asked._

_Quentin shook his head and smiled. "Nothing." He said. "I just had an idea." He opened the door to his cruiser. "Get in the car." He said. Laurel got in and Lance closed the door, still thinking._

 

“That’s not a good thing,” Tommy noted watching Quentin nervously.

 

_The scene shifted to an isolated warehouse. Walter walked up to the door. He tried it, but found it locked. He then looked at the electronic keypad. He thought for a few moments, then typed in TEMPEST. It buzzed, indicating wrong code. The screen cleared, and Walter nest tried Oliver. It buzzed again. He tried Thea, and it buzzed again. He thought for a moment, pausing only briefly as he typed ROBERT. The pad beeped and the door opened. He hesitantly walked inside. Opening the inside door, he was greeted by a pitch black expanse. He spied some light switches on the wall next to him and flipped them. As the lights came on, he found himself on a catwalk twenty feet above the floor of the warehouse- and laid out before him was the wreckage of the Queen's Gambit._

 

“Oh my god,” Laurel said as she saw the boat that ended her sister’s life. Thea stared in disbelief. How could her mother be keeping this from her?

 

_The scene changed to the SCPD, where Lance, Hilton and the computer expert Kelton were looking at his screens as he pulled up footage._

_"Ok, here's the security footage from the Exchange building shooting," Kelton said, "but I've already scrubbed through all of it."_

_"Yeah? Well, we're gonna do it again." Lance stated. "So, listen, when you went through the camera security tapes, you were looking for a guy in a green outfit and a green hood, right?" he asked._

_"What do you want me to look for, a man in a wig and a tutu?" Kelton said sarcastically._

_"I want you to look for anything that's out of the ordinary, ok?" the detective replied irritably. "Just look." The three cops watched for a few minutes before something caught Lance's eye. "Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa." He said, getting their attention. He pointed to one of the monitors. "Wait. Go back 10 seconds." He did so, and as the footage rewound, Lance saw an easily recognizable Oliver Queen pulling a duffle bag out of a trashcan, and extracting a hood from the bag._

 

“Shit,” Roy exclaimed watching the clip. Everyone was nervous now.

 

_What is that?" Kelton asked. Quentin leaned forward._

_"I'll be damned." He said. "Play that again."_

_The scene changed to the next day, where Laurel was walking with Peter Declan through the park._

_"Thank you, Laurel." Declan said sincerely._

_"Don't thank me." She countered with a smile. "Thank Brodeur's bodyguard Ankov for flipping him." She looked over to a bench, where an elderly woman and a small child were waiting. "I think there's someone that wants to see you."_

_"Izzy." Declan breathed, looking at his baby girl. The girl, hesitantly at first, then with growing confidence ran to her father, who knelt down and took her in his arms, crying tears of joy._

 

“I’m glad you got him cleared,” Tommy said to Laurel. “Good job.” Laurel smiled at Tommy’s compliment meeting his gaze from across the room.

 

_The scene changed to the lair, where Oliver was watching a news broadcast of Brodeur being led away in handcuffs. 'At least 5 federal, state, and local agencies are seeking millions of dollars in fines and environmental cleanup costs from Brodeur Chemical. New facts have come to light that Brodeur Chemical employee Camille Declan had discovered Brodeur was illegally disposing waste and had collected a file of evidence against her employer before her murder in 2007. Peter Declan, who was convicted of killing his wife, has been released, and the case has been reopened."_

_He crossed Brodeur's name off the list, then looked sadly at Laurel's picture. He put it back in the book and closed it as he thought back to the island._

_Flashback to the cave, where Oliver is now eating cooked pheasant. Yao Fei walked in and sat across from him._

_"Shengcún." He said. Oliver nodded._

_"Yeah." He said a mouthful of pheasant. "Bird. I know."_

_"Shengcún not mean 'bird'." Oliver looked up in shock. "Shengcún mean 'survive'."_

 

“He knows english?” Thea shouted angrily. “He couldn’t have just told my brother? He starved him.”

“If I ever see that guy,” Tommy commented angrily at seeing the treatment of his best friend.

 

_“You speak English." Oliver asked incredulously._

_"You want survive this place, bird not last thing you kill." He pulled Laurel's picture out from his shirt. "And forget her." He advised. "You look at that all day, you not survive this place."_

_The scene shifted to the present. Moira walked up to a limo and climbed inside. "You wanted to see me?" she asked, looking across to Malcolm Merlyn._

_"You look nervous, Moira." He noted. She hummed noncommittally._

_"Do I have a reason to be?" she asked._

_"We all do." Malcolm pulled out the sketch of The Hood and handed it to her. She looked at it, uninterested._

_"A modern-day Robin hood." She decided. She looked at Malcolm. "What, are you worried that your net worth makes you a target?"_

_Malcolm tuned and leaned in close. "Jason Brodeur, Adam Hunt, Warren Patel." He listed off. "Tell me you see a connection, Moira."_

_The realization was instant. "He's not targeting the rich."_

_"No, he's not." He agreed. "He's targeting the list."_

 

“Our parents are involved in the list?” Tommy asked in disbelief.

“Apparently,” Thea said just a shocked.

 

_The scene shifted to Queen Manor. Oliver walked in to the sitting room, where Diggle was standing by the windows. He cleared his throat._

_"You here for the bodyguard position?" he asked, "'Cause the new guy just quit."_

 

Everyone smirked at the statement. It appeared Rob wasn’t cut out for the job.

 

_Digg smiled. "No, I'm not." He said, turning to face Oliver. "I'm here about the other position." Oliver held out his hand, but Digg stayed where he was. "Just to be clear, I'm not signing on to be a sidekick." He said. Oliver put his hand down and Diggle started walking towards him. "But you're right. Fighting for this city needs to be done, and you're gonna do this with or without me."_

_"Yeah." Oliver agreed._

_"But with me, there'll be fewer casualties, including you." He stopped in front of the man. Oliver looked at him with a wan smile._

_"Diggle, I'm not looking for anybody to save me." He argued._

_"Maybe not, but you need someone just the same." Digg said. "You fighting a war, Queen, except you have no idea what war does to you, how it scrapes off little pieces of your soul." Digg held out his hand. "And you need someone to remind you of who you are, not this thing you're becoming." Oliver nodded and took his hand, shaking it._

 

“Your a good man Dig,” Laurel said gratefully.

 

_Just then the front doors burst open and half a dozen cops, including Lance and Hilton, barged in past a very upset Walter._

_"Oliver Queen." Lance yelled. Oliver walked out of the sitting room as the cops came in the foyer._

_"What is this?" Walter demanded. "You can't just barge in here."_

_Lance stopped in front of the Brit and gave him a satisfied smile. "Yeah? Well, I got a badge and a gun that say different." He noted._

 

“Unless he also has a warrant, he’s breaking the very law he swore to uphold,” Roy said.

 

_"Hey, what the hell's going on?!" Oliver asked, spotting Lance for the first time. "Detective Lance--"_

_"Oliver Queen," he cut him off, moving to cuff the man just as Moira came in, "you're under arrest on suspicion of obstruction of justice, aggravated assault," Moira looked at her husband in panic. "What is going on?" she asked. Thea, having heard the commotion, watched it all from the top of the stairs. "Walter, stop them!" she shouted. Lance continued through all the interruptions. "Trespassing, acting as a vigilante…" "Are you out of your mind?!" Oliver shouted at the cop. "And murder." He finished, He gave the younger man a victorious look. As he led him out of the house, he began to read him his rights. "You have the right to remain silent. Give up that right……."_

 

The recording ended there leaving everyone in the viewing room to wonder how Oliver would get himself out of this one.

****************************************************************

Back in the control room, everyone was talking about the current situation.

“Laurel, Roy. You both have two seconds to explain why you implemented my plan while I was on a mission in Opal City,” Sara said from her seat at the table.

“First off, while my younger self is here you can call me Dinah. And Roy is Arsenal. Second, I thought we were cool,” Dinah responded to her sister.

“I was only trying to stop you from ruining what you started. But now that we’re sufficiently calm. I think I have the right to ask you what the hell you were thinking? We didn’t even discuss who would be coming from the past.”

“Well Dinah and I decided to bring forward Laurel, Tommy, Diggle, Thea, and Roy. Isn’t that everyone we would need?” Arsenal questioned.

“What about me?” Sara practically screamed.

“And me,” Connor added stepping forward. “By bringing my dad here you could have erased me from existence.”

“And you two really should have consulted one of the speedsters you have at your disposal about time travel before you attempted it,” Nora added.

“Yeah,” Wally said. “One of us could have helped you. I mean Barry basically drilled every rule of time travel into my head when I became a speedster.”

“The point is,” Kara stepped in. “You two shouldn’t have done this on your own.”

“Look I know ok?” Dinah said. “I know I should have waited, I just… I miss them. Everyone I mean.” Sara softened at her sister’s explanation.

“I know Laur,” She said ignoring her request to be called Dinah. “I miss them too.”

Everyone was quiet for a few moments as they thought about all that they had lost.

“So what do we do?” Arsenal asked finally looking around the room.

“We fix this,” Sara said softly. “We fix everything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what'd you think? I'd love to hear your opinions on this chapter. Don't forget to comment which ship you want to see in this fic. I am posting this work on another platform as well so I will be looking at votes on both sites to find the winner. Until next time!


	5. Intermission 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The votes are in! It was neck and neck for a little while, but the final result is… Lauliver! Honestly, I was so torn on which ship to write since I love them both, but I think Lauliver is a good fit for this story. Sorry this update took so long. I actually went to Disney this past week so I couldn’t stay up until 3 am like I normally do because other people were in the hotel room. Anyway… this part is more of a break for the characters as well as an introduction for some new ones. Please R&R. Thanks!

Diggle was about to start the next memory when someone came into the room. She wore all white leather and carried a long bow-staff. Her blonde hair was down framing a face with a white domino mask **(A/N: In my version of this future, Sara wears a mask to hide her identity)**. She glanced around the room carefully examining each occupant.

“Follow me,” She finally said. Her voice was distorted but it still held conviction. She seemed a bit withdrawn and guarded. But no one argued with her. They only followed as she led them into another room.

“Where are we going?” Laurel asked confused.

“Yeah, what’s going on?” Thea added.

The woman in white paused and turned to watch the time travelers.

“Long story short, Dinah brought you all here without consulting the rest of the League. She left out some people that should have been brought forward. I’m here to remedy that,” she said walking up to a large machine. She pressed a couple of buttons and the machine whirred to life. “Laurel, you're going to want to prepare yourself.”

A bright light flashed and four silhouettes appeared in its place. The first was quickly identified as Quentin Lance. The police officer that had given the group so much trouble.

“Daddy,” Laurel said running forward and wrapping her father in a hug. The second figure was dressed in Black Leather. She wore a mask on her face as she looked around the room. She held a bow with a quiver on her back. She also had small baton connected on her hip. She looked around the room seeming to recognize some of the people there. The third person wore a black top with a hood and red pants. She had a sword in a holster and a bow and quiver as well. As soon as she got her footing her sword was drawn. The final person was none other than Malcolm Merlyn, Tommy’s father.

“Where are we?” The woman with the sword asked pointing it towards the woman in white. Her voice had an odd accent that no one could quite place.

“Now that everyone’s here,” the woman in white said stepping forward. “I can explain.” With that, she took off the white mask and turned off the voice changer. Laurel and Quentin both stumbled back in shock.

“Sara?” Quentin asked staring at the daughter he thought he’d lost.

“Hi, daddy. You can call me the Canary here,” she said softly. She seemed older. There were age marks on her face and overall she looked worn down. She turned towards the woman in black leather. “Take off your mask. They already know you're alive.”

The woman in black stared at the Older Sara with an unreadable expression on her face before reaching up and taking off the mask and a wig. The unmistakable face of Sara Lance stared back at them. A tear welling in her eye.

“Oh my god,” Laurel said moving forward to see her sister. “You're alive.”

Sara only nodded.

“My baby girl,” Quentin said stepping forward before engulfing his youngest in a hug. He was sobbing as he sunk to the floor bringing Sara down with him. Laurel walked forward kneeling down in front in front of them. She reached out to touch her sister. Moving a lock of her hair away from her face. Sara looked up, meeting her sister’s eyes. But instead of the hatred and anger that she had expected, there was only relief and joy. Laurel then jumped forward letting out a sob and latching on to her sister. Sara melted into the embrace of her loved ones.

“But… but how?” Laurel asked sniffling. Sara didn’t know what to say.

“I umm, I met up with Ollie. On an island called Lian Yu. We got separated and…” She trailed off not wanting to continue with the story. Not wanting to tell her family that she was an assassin who had never planned on telling them she was alive.

“I found your daughter there, starving to death. And we took her in as one of our own,” the other figure said sheathing her weapon.

“I’m sorry who are you?” Laurel asked looking up at the woman.

“I am Nyssa. Daughter of Ra’s Al Ghoul. Heir to the demon,” The woman in black stated proudly.

“What?” Quentin asked dumbfounded.

“It’s a long story,” Sara said sadly. Her eyes were misty but she maintained her confident posture. “But um…” she glanced towards Nyssa gulping. “This is my girlfriend.”

“Your girlfriend?” Quentin asked with a blank look. Sara nodded, nervous about her family’s reaction.

“That’s good Sara,” Laurel said smiling slightly. “I’m happy for you.”

“Me too,” the detective added. “I’m just glad you had someone you know.”

“What the hell is going on here?” Thea asked in shock.

“Well, I guess I can start from the beginning. The future here is horrible. Everyone you love is probably dead along with a couple of yourselves. I brought you here to save everyone. You’re going to be watching a bunch of memory files compiled to show the story of the first Hero. Oliver Queen,” the Canary explained to the newcomers.

“That son of a bitch,” Quinten snarled in anger receiving the glare of both his daughters in response.

“Wait,” Sara said in shock. “Ollie’s alive?” At the nod of her future self, Sara let a tear fall from her face. “I thought he’d been killed.”

“What? Why would you think that?” Laurel asked confused.

“You’ll see later. For now how about you guys come with me and you can have some lunch.”

The group nodded and walked out behind the Canary. That was with the exception of Malcolm who lingered behind observing.

“I know what you’re planning,” said a voice from behind him. He turned and chuckled at seeing the Older Laurel glaring at him.

“Not many people can sneak up on me,” he noted impressed.

“Well, I guess League of Assassin training comes in handy for that,” Dinah said smirking when Malcolm blanched slightly.

“How did you know that?” He asked glaring at her.

“Being from the future has its benefits,” She responded returning the gesture. Her eyes narrowed at the man in front of her. “I’ll have you know I was against bringing you here. The only reason you are is my sister seems to think your redeemable. For your sake, I hope she’s right.”

With that, she turned to exit the room, leaving Malcolm to his thoughts.

“Dad! You coming?” Tommy called from the opposite doorway. Straightening his suit and collecting his thoughts he turned around to face his son.

“Yes, Tommy. I’m on my way.”

The father and son made their way to join the rest of the group. Once they sat down, the original time travelers explained the basic premise of the memories that had already been viewed. Lance had the expected reaction. Cursing the fact that there was a vigilante and his anger was only increased at the fact that the Vigilante was Oliver Queen.

“Keep an open mind,” Laurel told him as he ranted about how the law was sacred. “I thought that too at the beginning and remember I was really upset.” The detective eventually calmed down enough to continue although he vowed to bring Oliver to justice.

The group then went on to explain what happened to the Gambit.

“Robert did what?” Malcolm asked in shock.

“Shot himself in the head,” Roy told him as Thea closed her eyes leaning into him slightly.

“In front of Oliver. After telling him to right his wrongs,” Laurel added.

“Did he specify what those wrongs were?” Malcolm asked internally worried. He didn’t want to take yet another person from Moira. The group shook their heads.

“It may have something to do with the list he uses to choose his targets,” Diggle said. At the mention of the list, Malcolm tensed. An action that did not go unnoticed.

“What’s wrong?” Thea asked looking at him.

“Nothing I just had no idea what happened to Oliver or Robert,” He lied. The older Sara glared at him with a look that could destroy just about anyone but said nothing to reveal the lie.

“Wait,” Roy said causing the group to stare at him. “How do you know that the yacht was sabotaged?”

Malcolm froze not responding. Watching these memories could reveal his plan and if that happened, he didn’t want to have to do anything to his son.

“Don’t worry about that right now,” The Canary said keeping her eyes locked with the businessman. No one felt too much like talking after that. After lunch, the group was led back to the screening room to start the next memory. On entering they noticed extra seats, as well as Arsenal and an unknown man in a yellow suit. He had red hair and a mask.

“Hi guys welcome back,” He said as everyone entered. “I’m Kid Flash, but you guys can call me Wally.” Arsenal elbowed him in ribs whispering something about secret identities.

“Why are you guys here?” Roy asked eying the two suspiciously.

“Supervision,” Arsenal said. He gestured to Diggle and the man resumed the videos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What are your thoughts? This was the first ‘intermission’ type chapter and it introduced a couple of new characters. I hope you enjoyed! Until next time.


	6. Damaged

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I’m back. I know it’s been a long time since I’ve updated and I’m really sorry about that. But life has been going pretty crazy since last time. Plus, I’ve had to prioritize which fics to update so this one just kind of got put off for a while. But here it is finally! Chapter six. I hope you enjoy. Please R&R.

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ARROW OR ANY OTHER THINGS IN THIS STORY.**

**************************************LINE BREAK***************************************

_The next 'episode', as it were, opened with a scene on the Island. A rabbit stood in the distance in the forest- and was suddenly cut down by an arrow. Several yards away stood Yao Fei, bow in hand, with Oliver standing next to him. He indicated to the rabbit._

_"Dinner." he said._

“That is disgusting,” Tommy said staring at the dead carcass in disgust.

“And what exactly did you expect your friend to do?” Nyssa asked narrowing her eyes. “Starve?”

Tommy flinched as if he’d been slapped. “That’s not what I meant.”

 

_Oliver looked at him, and then groaned. "Ah, come-- hey, I got an idea, why don't you let me shoot that thing and you can go pick up the bloody, dead, disgusting animal." He whined._

“See even he agrees it’s disgusting,” Tommy said gesturing wildly to the screen.

“Son, sometimes, one must do what it takes to survive. It’s a lesson I wish you had obtained,” Malcolm said harshly while watching Oliver with intent. He was concerned. He did not want to kill Oliver. The boy was like a son to him. The son he wished he’d always had. But nothing could get in the way of his undertaking.

 

_Yao Fei looked him over, and then indicated to his bow. "What?" Oliver asked, confused._

_"Try." He said simply, handing the bow over. Oliver took it, unsure. "Breathe." Yao Fei advised. Everything, breathe. Breathe, aim, fire." He instructed. He handed him an arrow. "Here." He said, then pointed at a far off tree. "Aim that tree."_

_Oliver knocked the arrow and took aim. "Breathe." Yao Fei advised again, and Oliver took a slow, steadying breath. He released it, then shot the arrow- That went wide to the right._

Everyone in the room burst into laughter. Even Nyssa and Malcolm had to grin at the sight. The arrow wielding vigilante couldn’t shoot a single thing to save his life at this point in the memory.

“I didn’t realize he was such a terrible shot,” Laurel said smiling.

“Yep, he was even worse than I was when I started out,” Arsenal said smirking.

“You know I didn’t know you at the beginning but I heard all about your first couple shots. They were terrible,” Wally said elbowing his friend. Arsenal rolled his eyes under his mask as the recording started again.

 

_"N_ ǐ _huì s_ ǐ _de hěn c_ ǎ _n" Yao Fei muttered._

_"What does that mean?" Oliver asked, annoyed._

_"You will die badly." He translated dryly. He pointed in the direction the arrow went. "Get."_

_Oliver sighed in annoyance, but walked off in search of the wayward arrow. He moved deeper into the forest, and he finally spotted it, sticking out of a fallen tree. He moved to get it, when suddenly a hand covered his mouth._

“Wait what’s going on?” Thea asked nervously. She didn’t want to see anything else happen to her brother.

 

_Arms grabbed him and dragged him further into the trees. Soon his hands were bound in front of him, and he was led by three men in black tactical gear and ski masks to a pit covered by a makeshift bamboo grate. They opened the grate and shoved him into the hole. Oliver crashed down, barely able to break his fall, and turned over to see the men close the grate and secure it, locking him in._

_"Wait, wait! You can't leave me here!" he cried out, grasping at the grate. One of the men smashed his fingers with the butt of his assault rifle. Oliver screamed in pain, letting go and falling back down. "Don't do this to me, please! Oh-oh! No! Please! I didn't do anything!"_

“What’s going to happen to him?” Laurel asked worriedly.

“My guess is they are mercenaries. It’s a miracle he survived the experience at all,” Nyssa said before Sara nudged her and mumbled something in arabic. “My apologies, Beloved. I shall try to be more sensitive to their emotions.” Malcolm rolled his eyes while everyone else just stared at her oddly before looking back to the memories their worry for Oliver superseding any other comments they wanted to add.

 

_The scene flashed back to present as Oliver was led out of a squad car in cuffs and into the SCPD headquarters through a sea of reporters._

_'The police think they know who I am.' Oliver's' voice sounded, playing over his booking. 'They think I'm the vigilante. The man in the hood terrorizing the city's criminals. They also think they have me trapped. That I have no way out. They're only half right.'_

_"This is a mistake."_

_The scene had changed to an interrogation room, where Lance sat across the table from Oliver. Lance didn't even look up from his forms at Oliver's declaration._

 

“Dammit I have him!” Lance shouted standing up suddenly. “He can’t weasel his way out of this one. That arrogant ass is going to rot in prison for longer than five years. I wish he’d stayed in hell…” Quentin was cut off by a knife embedding itself in the wall behind him.

“Don’t talk about him that way,” came a deep gravelly voice. Turning, Quinten saw a man dressed in mostly black. “He was a better man than you.” Everyone in the room fell silent in fear with the exception of the League trained visitors and the ‘supervisors’.  Nyssa and Malcolm were on guard preparing for an attack.

“Arsenal,” The man said not moving. He was clearly a little defensive as well. “Andrea called. She’s sick.”

“Really right now?” Arsenal said sighing. “Fine get someone to take over for me.” With that, he grabbed his bow and marched out of the room.

The man in black looked around before his eyes landed on Diggle. He stared at the man for a few seconds, his masked eyes wide open in shock before schooling his expression. “I’ll send someone else in a few minutes. Until then, don’t kill each other.” Finally the time travelers were alone with Wally having followed everyone else out.

“Ummm, what the hell was that?” Laurel asked looking around.

“Your dad just got told off by a scary dude in a black costume who likes to put pointy objects in people,” Roy offered smirking.

                                                           

_"I'll be asking you a few questions, standard stuff for the report." He said. "Have you been arrested before? That's ok, I know the answer to that one, plenty of times." he put in sarcastically._

_"Like I said, this is a mistake." Oliver repeated._

_"Far as I can tell, the only mistake I made was not shooting you down at the docks when I had a chance." Lance snarled in reply._

_"I am not who you think I am." He tried. Lance scoffed._

_"Oh, you're exactly who I think you are." He stated. "You're a dangerous menace who doesn't care about who he hurts, except now you're doing it with bows and arrows instead of trust funds and yachts."_

“Dad!” Laurel yelled at her father. “That is not ok. You can’t do that to any suspect let alone the fact that Ollie already paid for what happened.”

 

_Oliver sat back in his chair. "Detective, you hate me. I get it. But that doesn't make me a vigilante." He reasoned._

_"No." Lance agreed, and then pressed on. "The security camera footage of you at the UNIDAC auction with a green hood does that pretty well."_                                                   

_"And as I said again, I ran into the stairwell once I heard the shooting." Oliver stated, leaning forward. "I saw a duffel bag that I thought maybe belonged to the shooter. I grabbed it, looked inside and saw a hood." He finished._

 

Everyone sat there in silence for a second.

“Wow, and I thought Ollie was bad at lying on Lian Yu,” Sara said listening to the horrible lie he was trying to give to the police.

“Wait you were on Lian Yu?” Laurel said in shock.  “How?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Sara said looking away from her family. Nyssa gently put her hand on Sara’s wrapping it around her petite limb.

                                                           

_"And what- you took it home with you? 'Cause we can't find it." Lance retorted. "And what about harassing Adam Hunt? That just happened to take place right across the street from your little homecoming bash."_

_"Those were coincidences." Oliver argued._                                                         

_"No. When they pile up like that, it becomes evidence." Lance replied. He began to work on the forms again when a patrol man opened the door._                                          

_"His parents are here." The cop announced._                                          

_"Tell them to wait." Lance ordered._                                   

_"I want to see my son." Moira demanded, storming into the room with Walter right behind her._                                                   

_"I'm in the middle of an interrogation here!" Lance yelled, getting up from his chair._            _"Detective Lance," Moira started, fury etched on her face, "I know you hate my family, but I had no idea that you'd go so far to arrest my son without any grounds whatsoever!”_             _"I have solid grounds, and I have evidence." Lance argued coldly._

“You have circumstantial evidence. But there will be witnesses that place Oliver at the party on the night of Hunt’s downfall.” Laurel pointed out.

“But he was across the street,” Her father protested.

“Do you have the exact time, because most of those people will just go off the fact that he was there. It’s a flimsy basis for an arrest.”

_"Which you can present to Mr. Queen's attorney when he gets here." Walter countered. "Until then, this interrogation is over, Detective."_

_Lance looked at Moira and Walter, then down at Oliver, still seated at the table. "Sure." He said finally, walking out of the room "You have fifteen minutes." He closed the door, leaving the family alone in the room._                                                    

_"Detective Lance appears to be on some personal vendetta." Walter noted._

_"He is." Oliver agrees, looking at the man. "He blames me for the death of his daughter. He also thinks that I dress up in a green hood and shoot people with arrows." He finished dryly._

 

“It’s really scary he can lie like that,” Tommy said frowning at his friend.                                                     

_"The important thing is not to say anything until your attorney gets here." Walter advised._                                                           

_"Fine." He agreed. "I want Laurel."_

_Both Moira and Walter scoffed. "Brilliant." Walter muttered._                                                    

_"Oliver I don't think your ex-girlfriend can be counted on to be objective here." Moira argued. Oliver looked at her, unflinching._                                           

_"She knows me better than anyone. She knows that I could never be this guy." He reasoned. He looked to his stepfather. "Walter, you say Lance has a vendetta?"_               

_"Yes." He replied._                                                     

_"I think Laurel can get him off of it." Oliver continued. "He raised her to do the right thing. That includes representing an innocent man. So Mom," He looked to Moira. "Please." He asked plainly. Moira sighed._

“Do you think you’ll say yes?” Tommy asked looking at the girl he’s had a crush on for years.

“Probably,” Laurel responded.

_The scene changed to CNRI. Moira entered and looked around, finally finding her target. "Laurel." She said, walking up to the attorney that was busily reading a file. Laurel looked up in surprise._                                                 

_"Mrs. Queen!" she exclaimed, confusion on her face. "What are you--"_

_"It's Oliver. Something's happened." She began. Laurel looked at her sympathetically._     _"I know." She glanced at a TV that was re-airing Oliver's walk up the precinct stairs. "It's been all over the news."_                                                        

_Moira sighed. "These charges are ludicrous." She stated._

_"I know." Laurel agreed, walking them back to her desk. "Can I ask you, who's representing him?"_                                                       

_Moira looked at her awkwardly. "Well, that's why I'm here." She looked at the younger woman. "He wants you to represent him."_                                                  

_"Me?" Laurel asked in confusion._                                      

_"Yes." Moira replied, slightly embarrassed. "I told him it was a bad idea, but to be frank, I am desperate. He says if you don't represent him, then he doesn't want any attorney."_

_"Mrs. Queen," she began slowly, "my father is the arresting officer." "Yes." Moira agreed._            _"And I don't think it's a good idea for me to represent someone who I've been involved with." she finished with a sympathetic look. "Listen, I am sorry for what your family is going through--"_                                                   

_"No apologies." Moira interrupted with a smile. "Your idealism, I think, is why my son, for all his mistakes, is so smitten with you." She sighed. "Regardless, it was a bad idea on his part, and I am sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable."_

“Wow,” Laurel said surprised. “I can’t believe I didn’t help him.”

 

_The scene shifted to the courthouse, where Oliver was being led into the courtroom by an officer._

_"Docket 81941, People vs. Oliver Queen." The bailiff intoned. Oliver walked past his family, and Tommy, to sit at the defendants table. "Murder, aggravated assault, assault with intent, menacing and trespassing."_                                                         

_Judge Moss looked at Oliver, then looked around "Where's your attorney, Mr. Queen?" she asked. "I'm representing myself, Judge." He stood and replied calmly._

“That is a terrible idea,” Laurel said shaking her head.

“Yeah he’s making this a little too easy,” Quentin said watching the recordings suspiciously.

 

_"I'm not sure that's the wisest course, Mr. Queen." The Judge argued._

_"I think it is." He countered. "I'm innocent."_

_"Then we'll consider that your plea," Moss said. "Thank you." Oliver said sitting back down. "Now, as to bail--"_

_"Your Honor," said District Attorney Kate Spencer as she stood to address the Judge."Mr. Queen's family owns a pair of private jets, and, well, on the subject of their wealth, I would point out that there is virtually no bail amount that can guarantee his presence at trial." She argued._                                                    

_"So then I guess it's a good thing that the people's case is so circumstantial." Heads turned and Oliver allowed himself a satisfied smile as Laurel made her way into the court. She walked past Oliver's stunned family, and her even more stunned father, to stand next to the defendant's table. "Dinah Laurel Lance, Your Honor." She announced. "I'd like to file my appearance on behalf of the defendant."_

 

“There you are,” Tommy said shaking his head.

“I knew you wouldn’t leave Ollie out to fend for himself,” Thea said laughing. Laurel rolled her eyes smiling.

“Yeah I had a feeling I’d end up doing something like this.”

                                               

_Oliver gratefully slipped over to the second chair so Laurel could take her rightful place at the table. "Mr. Queen's wealth should not deprive him of the right to be released on bail while under the presumption of innocence." She argued._                                   

_"He is a flight risk." Spencer countered._                           

_"Then minimize the risk." Laurel reasoned. "The defendant is willing to submit to home confinement and electronic monitoring through the wearing of a UKG45 administered ankle device."_            

_The smile fell completely off Oliver's face. "No, he wouldn't." he argued._

“That must factor into his plan somehow,” Diggle realized.

“Yes, it appears that Mr. Queen will have to figure out another way to fool your courts,” Nyssa said calmly.

 

_"Sold." The Judge said, ignoring him._                                                      

_"Your Honor--"Spencer tried to argue, but the judge cut her off, too. "Bail is set at $15 million. $5 million bond." She announced. "Defendant to see probation for the fitting of a GPS device." She banged the gavel to close out the hearing._                                      

_Oliver leaned back in his chair and looked at his ex-girlfriend. "I knew you couldn't resist saving my ass." He said with a smile._

_"You're going to make me regret this, aren't you?" she asked wryly._

_"No." he denied. "It's going to be like old times."_

_"Fortunately for you with the legal case, there's no way that you're this vigilante." She noted, closing her briefcase._

_"I agree."_

_She looked him dead in the eye. "Because he's actually trying to make a difference. We both know that's not really your style." She stated, rising to leave. She didn't see the hurt look in his eyes that he masked almost immediately._

Laurel winced as she watched herself onscreen.

“That was a little harsh,” Roy pointed out.

“To be fair, I haven’t said anything yet,” she defended weakly. “But yeah that was a crappy thing to say.”

                                                          

_The scene changed to Queen Manor later that day, where Oliver was getting fitted with his ankle bracelet as Moira, Walter, and Tommy looked on._                                                   

_"Mom." He said calmingly to his mother, "It's not that bad."_                                                     

_The cop finished. "Ok. This device has a direct line into the precinct. Stay on the property, you're golden." He instructed. "Any questions?"_                                       

_"Yes." Oliver said immediately. "I'm having a sizeable get together here tomorrow evening, and there is a better than likely chance it spills into the outdoor pool." Tommy and Moira looked at him in disbelief. The cop didn't bat an eye._

“He’s throwing a party?” Quentin asked annoyed. “At a time like this?”

“I think his plan was to have witnesses placing him at home while the Hood was spotted across town. The ankle monitor limits that option,” Malcolm said watching the screen intently. “I’m actually quite interested in what he’ll do next.”

 

_"Pool deck's fine." He said. "Step on the grass, they're sending a SWAT team to forcibly subdue you." He finished wryly._

_"Thank you, officer." Oliver said. The cop showed himself out. "A 'sizeable get together'?" Moira asked in disbelief._                                                  

_"I'm confined to this house for the foreseeable future. I might as well make the most of it." He announced. He looked over at Tommy. "And this party is going to be themed." He decided. "I'm thinking prison, uh, burning man meets 'Shawshank Redemption'. The invite says, 'come before Oliver Queen gets off'._

 

“That is a terrible idea,” Laurel said staring at the Oliver on screen.

                                   

_"Maybe a party's not in the best of taste, you know, considering the circumstances." Tommy said, trying to be the voice of reason as he sat down next to his friend._                   

_"Tommy, the circumstances are why we're having a party in the first place." Oliver said. He looked at the three of them. "I want people to know that I'm not worried about any of this."_

“Why isn’t he worried at all?” Thea asked frustrated. “We just got him back! I don’t want to lose him already.”

“Yeah, they have pretty good circumstantial evidence,” Tommy said. “And I don’t want my best friend in a jail cell.

 

_"Well, that makes one of us." Moira said archly._

_The scene changed to Laurel's apartment, where Quentin was having a 'conversation' with his daughter._

_"Before you start yelling-"_

_"Why would I yell?" he asked harshly. "You're only defending the man that killed your sister."_                                                    

_"Oliver did not kill Sara!" Laurel exclaimed, exasperated._                                                        

_"If it wasn't for him, she wouldn't have been on that boat." Quentin shot back._

 

“Dad,” Sara said looking at her father. She couldn’t believe he was acting this way. “I chose to go on that boat. Oliver didn’t make me. I was young and stupid, yeah. But, you can’t make Ollie suffer because of my choice.”

“But he could have said no,” Quentin said trying to defend his actions.

“Yeah, but so could I. Plus, what Ollie went through the next few years… at least I had Nyssa,” Sara responded leaning onto her lover’s side. “He had no one.”

 

_Have you considered the possibility that that's the reason you're trying to make him out to be this-- this menace?" Laurel reasoned hotly._                                                  

_"No." Quentin denied. "It is the videotape; it's the suspicious timing, that is the reason!"_    _"This is Oliver Queen we're talking about." Laurel exploded. "He wrecks fancy cars and he dates models. He doesn't kill people."_

_"No, he just uses them, like he used Sara and like he used you, and he's only asked you to be his lawyer to get at me." Quentin stated angrily._

_"No, he asked me to be his lawyer to get through to you." Laurel explained._                        _"You hate the Hood and you hate Oliver, and you want more than anything for them to be the same person. But Oliver isn't the reason why Sara died. Or the reason mom left." She added._                                                   

_"I don't have to listen to this." Quentin said, storming past her._                                               

_"And by the way," she added, "You're not the only one who misses them."_                         

_Quentin sighed, and then left as Laurel looked on sadly._

Quentin winced at his daughter’s words. As much as it pained him to admit it, she was right. After Sara had been presumed dead and Dinah left him, he spiralled down. Laurel was always there trying to help him back on his feet. Cutting him off before he drank himself into oblivion. But he’d always been so focused on what he lost, he nearly forgot that Laurel lost them both too.

“Laurel… sweetheart,” he said closing his eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

A small tear fell from Laurel’s face but she quickly wiped it away. Standing up she walked over and engulfed him in a hug.

“It’s ok daddy,” she said clinging onto him tightly. “I’m still here.”

“So am I,” Sara said kneeling down next to her family. “I’m here, I don’t want to leave you again.”

The family stayed there for a while, all of them in tears as they finally got the closure they’d been needing for years. When they all returned to continue watching, Laurel sat next to her dad her head on his shoulder.

 

_The scene changed back to Queen Manor. Oliver was in his room, working on his laptop and looking through the notebook when there was a knock on the door._                              _"Yup?" Oliver called. Diggle opened the door and walked into the room. "Thank you for coming." Oliver said, and then added quietly "Shut the door."_

_Diggle did so and walked over to Oliver. "I guess it was just a matter of time before the police caught up with you."_

_"Except they didn't."_

_"Oliver, they got you on video." Diggle protested._

_"I knew the security camera was there, just like I knew the police would review the footage and arrest me." Oliver explained. "All part of the plan."_

_"So you wanted to get arrested?" Digg asked, confused._

_"Well, I returned to Starling City and a few days later, the vigilante appears." Oliver reasoned. "Sooner or later, somebody was going to make the connection."_

 

“I honestly can’t believe no one did sooner,” Malcolm explained shaking his head. “It pains me to know that not a single person was able to piece together his identity.”

“He was pretty good at keeping all of this underwraps,” Diggle said. “I mean so far only one person managed to find out. Me. And that was only because he chose to save me.”

 

_"So what part of serving yourself up to the cops will help you avoid going to prison for the rest of your life?" Digg demanded._

_"There's more to it."_

_"Well, there better be, for your sake, because your family is freaking out downstairs." He said, and then added "Oliver, your mother and your sister just got you back, and now you're going to put them through a trial, maybe even worse? Don't you care?" he pleaded._

_"Of course I care." Oliver stated, looking at the man. "The mission comes first."_

Thea recoiled at the sheer lack of emotion in her brother’s statement. Did he really prioritize his mission to his family? Did she not matter to him?

“He doesn’t mean that does he?” she asked shakily.

Diggle thought carefully about how to answer that. He’d still never met Oliver, only seen him in the flashbacks, so he didn’t really know about their previous relationship. But he knew war. And he also knew that Oliver meant what he had said. But it wasn’t in a cruel way. He probably was just having trouble readjusting to home life. It was something every soldier went through. Not to mention, Oliver’s war seemed to still be ongoing. It was hard to prioritize in that scenario.

“It’s not quite that simple, Thea.” Diggle started. “Oliver has spent years fighting to get back to you guys, but adjusting to being back home is difficult. The mission is something he feels a responsibility to do, especially since Robert died for him. He needs to do it. It’s not that he doesn’t care about you.”

“Well said Mr. Diggle,” Malcolm commented. “Thea, he does not love you any less. He simply is unable to cope with his return.”

“I know how he feels,” Sara added quietly.

Thea nodded turning back to the memories, but not before shifting closer to Roy, leaning some of her weight on him.

 

_He leaned forward and turned the laptop around to show a news article, complete with photo, to Digg._

_"Who is he?" the bodyguard asked._

_"Leo Mueller." Oliver started explaining. "German arms dealer. Suspected in the theft of a hundred M249 Squad Automatic Weapons."_

_"Ok." Digg said._

_"Last night he arrived in Starling City to sell the guns." Oliver finished._

_"Oliver, don't you imagine there's enough trouble you're in this week than to go after this guy?" Digg argued._

_"I imagine what would happen if a street gang got their hands on military-grade hardware. I imagine our city's streets turned into a war zone." Oliver stated bluntly._

_"But you're under house arrest, Oliver, which means you can't just go after this guy." Digg pointed out._

_"Look, for now, I would just like you to shadow Mueller." Oliver said. "I would like you to track his movements. I want to know where the buy is happening."_

_Digg sighed. "Ok." He agreed. "And how am I supposed to track him?"_                                

_Oliver smiled and leaned back in his chair. "Well, you know us billionaire vigilantes" he said. "We do love our toys."_

“What does he mean by that?” Tommy asked flippantly. “He knows of other billionaire vigilantes running around?”

The other occupants of the room shrugged. Suddenly, laughter sounded from one end of the room. Sara, Nyssa, and Malcolm were on their feet in an instant. They weren’t sure who that was, but they didn’t know many people who could sneak up on anyone who had been in the league of Assassins. Diggle and Quentin tensed, both reaching back only to realize they didn’t have any sort of weapon.

“Relax,” the voice said. “I’m not here to fight.”

A girl entered the room. She was wearing a loose sweatshirt with the faded words Star Labs on the front.

“Wally asked me to come in and watch you guys while he and Ro- Arsenal figure out some other stuff,” the strange girl said catching herself before she could reveal Arsenal’s identity.

“Ok and who are you?” Laurel asked her eyes narrowing on the slip of the tongue.

“My name is Nora, I’m the daughter of Barry Allen. You guys don’t know him yet.”

Everyone exchanged wary glances regarding the newcomer before settling down to resume watching.

 

_The scene changed to the Foundry. Digg flipped on the lights, illuminating Oliver's lair. He took his first clear look at the space and stared in wonder. He walked over to one of the work tables, stopping by a row of arrows that Oliver had made. Hesitantly, he touched his finger to the tip of the arrow. "Ow!" he shook his finger, then started looking around. Finally he found what he had been looking for, a small black case. He hefted it up onto a nearby table, then opened the lid. "Oooh." He said in admiration at the three magnetic GPS transponders. He pulled one out and turned it on, testing it. It beeped happily at him. "Oh, well, that's sweet." He said._

 

Everyone laughed at Diggle’s admiration for all of the gadgets in the Foundry.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated. Josiah Hudson, the head of security, entered Walter's office._

_"You wanted to see me, sir?" he asked Walter, who was standing behind his desk looking out the window. Walter turned and looked at the man._

_"No, I didn't." he said, giving the other man a meaningful look. "In fact, this meeting isn't taking place." Hudson nodded, and Walter indicated the seat in front of his desk. He took his own seat. "How long have you been head of security at Queen Consolidated, Josiah?" he asked._

_"Going on seven years now, sir." Josiah replied._

_Walter nodded to himself. "Sounds about right." He noted, leaning forward. "But what I'm about to tell you will test the bounds of your discretion." At the other man's nod, he continued. "You're aware of the 'Queen's Gambit', Robert Queen's ill-fated yacht?" he nodded again. "Well, I found it."_

Malcolm tensed. This was not going well and something needed to be done about it. He hated the idea of killing Walter, or Oliver for that matter. But it seemed with each passing moment that he needed to be more and more prepared to do so in order for his undertaking to succeed.

 

_Josiah blinked. "Sir, the boat went down in the North China Sea five years ago."_

_"Which is why my discovery of its remains in a warehouse downtown was unexpected, to say the least." He handed the man a slip of paper with an address on it. "I want you to transfer those remains to a secure location. Can I count on you?"_

_Josiah nodded and chuckled. "What's going on, sir?" he asked, half concerned, half amused. Walter gave him a look that killed his amusement._

_"That's very much what I'm trying to determine." Walter said, ending the meeting._

“What the hell is going on?” Thea asked staring. “Why would anyone want to recover the Gambit?”

“I don’t know,” Tommy responded. “But it’s not good.”

 

_The scene shifted to SCPD. Laurel and Oliver made their way into the integration room, where Detective Lance and Kate Spencer were waiting for them._

_"Thank you both for coming." Spencer said as the two sat down across the table. "No, thank you." Oliver replied glibly. "It's nice to get out of the house."_

_"I'll cut right to it." Spencer glanced at Quentin, and then leaned forward. "Detective Lance arrested your client without consulting my office first. So congratulations. I am willing to consider a plea in this case."_

_"Absolutely not." Oliver replied at once, garnering a look from Laurel._

_"Mr. Queen spent five years in seclusion on a deserted island, cut off from civilization." Spencer went on. "It is quite possible he's suffering from some form of post-traumatic stress."_                                         

 

“Possible? More like definitely,” Diggle stated observing the people in front of him. “Honestly with all he’s been through I’d be more concerned if he didn’t have any kind of trauma.”

 

_She sat back. "Given that, we would support a plea of insanity." She offered. Oliver scoffed, even as she continued. "Conditional on a period of indeterminate incarceration at a psychiatric facility."_

_"No, thank you." Oliver said again. "I'm not crazy."_

_"Finally something we agree on." Lance muttered. "He's not a nut, he's a killing machine." He glared at the younger man._

“ _Actually, I'm neither." Oliver replied._

_"There is nothing you can say to me that I would believe." Lance declared, giving Oliver an idea._

_"I'll take a polygraph." He offered._

“Wait, but he is the Vigilante,” Thea said skeptically. “Won’t the polygraph just show that he’s not telling the truth?”

“Not necessarily,” Quentin explained. “Anyone can fool the damn thing if they know how.”

“That’s why their inadmissible in court,” Laurel added. “He could definitely fool one if he wanted to.”

 

_Laurel leaned back. "Uh, polygraphs are inadmissible." She told him over her shoulder._

_"In front of the jury." Oliver agreed. He nodded at Quentin. "I'll take a polygraph in front of him. He's the one I need to convince."_

_"I'm going to need a minute." Laurel declared. The other two left the room, with Quentin shooting his daughter a look that she chose to ignore. When the door closed, she whirled around to Oliver. "You're looking at life in prison." She announced. "What Spencer just offered you is a gift."_

_"I'm not crazy. I am innocent." He reiterated. "I kind of want to take the polygraph." He added cheerfully, and then said "And if I take it and I fail, then I will consider making a deal."_     

_Laurel looked at him and saw the sincerity in his face. "Fine." She said. "I'll set up the poly. And I will tell Spencer that we're not pleading out; but Oliver, you have a family. Friends. People who actually care about you." She reminded him. "So don't, for one second, think you're the only person with something to lose here." She paused for a moment, then let out a long breath. "I'll be right back."_

 

“He needed to hear that,” Sara said. “He so engrossed in his mission, he has to remember what he fought to come home for.”

 

_The scene flashed back to the island. Oliver, his hands still tied, was being led into a military-style camp by two masked soldiers. He was guided into a large tent and pushed up against the support pole. He winced as his bad shoulder hit._

_Before him, seated behind a table, was a man in the same black uniform as everyone else, sans the mask. He was middle-aged and blonde, and when he spoke it was with a British accent._

_"Please, sit." The man said, indicating a chair. "You're making me feel rude." Oliver dropped heavily into the chair. "I do apologize for my men's treatment of you." He continued, opening a soda and pouring it into a glass with ice. Oliver eyed the drink longingly. "They're trained to view any stranger as hostile. I’m Edward Fyers, by the way." He introduced himself. "And you are?"_

_"I'm Oliver Queen." Oliver said after a moment. "I was shipwrecked here. I don't know for how long. My family has money." He said suddenly, desperately. "They have lots of money you would be you'd be really well compensated for my rescue." He assured him._

_"Well, I look forward to that." Fyers replied casually. "But for the moment, let's just talk."_

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Tommy said.

“It’s not going to end well for Oliver,” Roy agreed. “Those guys don’t look like they’re fooling around.

_"About what?" Oliver asked tiredly._

_"Well, for instance this gentleman." Fyers reached behind him and pulled a photo off a crate. He showed it to Oliver. "Do you know him?"_

_The picture showed a younger and much cleaner Yao Fei, dressed in full PLA uniform. Oliver recognized him almost instantly, and for a second thought about saying so; but something about Fyers, his men and this whole camp was setting off alarm bells in the back of his mind._

_"No." he said after a pause._

 

“He’s protecting him?” Laurel said surprised. She knew Oliver was kind and good, she’d seen past the whole playboy persona he’d had when they were dating. But these men were dangerous and he didn’t give someone up in order to come home.

 

_"No?"_

_"No." he repeated firmly. "Who's he?"_

_Fyers smiled tightly. "You're a poor liar." He declared. He sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. "I've been polite. I’ll offer you one more chance before my manners leave me."_

_"Hey, hey...I don't know this guy." Oliver again argued. "I thought I was on this island all by myself."_

“He was a terrible liar,” Quentin said staring at the man who had been the object of his hatred for the last five years.

 

_"Do you know what this island is named?" Fyers asked. Oliver shook his head, and he continued. "We're on Lian Yu-- Mandarin for 'Purgatory'," he leaned forward, his gaze bore into Oliver's eyes, "and I can make it feel like hell."_

_Fyers got up and walked around the table so that he was standing by Oliver. "I don't know why you're protecting him." He said, looking down at the boy. "You're young. Foolish. Perhaps you don't know why, either." He considered, then in a harsher voice, "Think on that when you're begging for death." He walked out of the tent. As he went through the flap, he called out, "He's yours now."_

_Oliver turned to see a large man, dressed in black body armor and a balaclava that was half orange, and half black. He carried an Uzi in his hand, wore a bandoleer across his chest with M433 grenades, a knife in his boot, and a sword slung across his back. Oliver wasn't paying attention to the weapons; however, he was looking at the man's eyes, the only human part he could see- eyes blacker than the body armor he wore._

Thea blanched at the scene. That man looked deadly, and she didn’t want him anywhere near her brother.

 

_The scene flashed back to Queen Manor. Workmen were busy setting up for the party. Thea was sitting out on the pool deck staring absently at the Hōzen Oliver had given her, lost in thought._

_"Hey, Speedy," Oliver called, poking his head out the door. "One of the workers left a keg too far from the bar. Can you ask them to move it please?" he smiled and lifted his leg a bit, shaking the ankle monitor. "I got the ankle thingie. I don't want to set off a SWAT invasion." He joked. Thea gave him a devastated look. "Hey!" he said, coming out and sitting in the chair next to her. "All this stuff? It's going to be fine, I promise." He said sincerely._

_"Yeah, well, when you and dad left on the yacht, you promised me I'd see you in a few days." Thea pointed out sadly. "Which didn't happen."_

The room was overcome with silence. Thea allowed a tear to flow down her cheek as she recalled that exact conversation. The one she’d had with her brother right before he got on that damned boat and “died”.

 

_"This is different than that." He countered. "I didn't do any of this stuff, you know that." He paused, seeing her hesitancy. "Right?"_

_"You're out all the time." She said sadly. "You have those scars, and since you've been back, you've been acting really weird."_

_"None of this makes me some Robin Hood wannabe."_

_"And you get me this." She lifted up the Hōzen. "I mean, it's an arrowhead."_

 

“Your pretty close, Thea,” Malcolm complimented. “Oliver seems to be having trouble dissuading you.”

“Not exactly what I want to be right about,” Thea responded.

 

_"Oh, man." He sighed. "Thea, I bought that in the gift shop of the Beijing airport." He lied._                                  

_Oliver smiled. "Now I'm sort of happy I didn't buy you the shot glass with the panda on it, 'cause then you'd be worried I was panda man." He joked, finally drawing a smile out of Thea._                             

_"You know, I knew you couldn't be this person." She chuckled. "I-I just... I can't lose you again."_

_"Deal." He agreed._

“You almost figured it out,” Diggle noted. “Nice work.”

“Yeah you’d make an excellent detective,” Roy added sarcastically. “I mean almost getting it right but then screwing it up seems to be pretty common in police these days,” he added looking towards Quentin with a smirk. The officer scowled as Thea rolled her eyes.

 

_The scene changed to downtown Starling City. Moira walked into an office where Malcolm Merlyn sat, signing papers at his desk._

_"Moira." He said pleasantly, putting down his pen. "Thank you for coming on such short notice."_

_"Yes. Could you please make this quick?" she asked, "I'm in the midst of somewhat of a family emergency."_

_"Yes, of course. It’s all over the local news." He chuckled. “Possibly even national."_

_"Well, I know what you're thinking." Moira began._

_"Do you?" he replied, the smile still on his face but an edge to his voice._

_"My son is not the man targeting the list." She assured him. "The charges are preposterous."_

_"Not according to the district attorney, assistant district attorney, investigating detective in the police department that filed charges against him." He said harshly._

_"That detective has a vendetta against my family." Moira argued._

_"Why? Is there something untoward about your family?" Malcolm asked. Moira's eyes flickered to the second man in the room, Malcolm's bodyguard. Then she returned her gaze to Malcolm. "If so, something really needs to be done about that." He finished._

“Dad! What the hell!?” Tommy yelled.

“You’re threatening the Queens now?” Quentin asked glaring at the man.

“You better stay the hell away from my brother!” Thea yelled.

“Look, I’m sure everything will be explained later. But I am doing what’s right for the city,” Malcolm said careful not to reveal details. On the off chance this thing didn’t unveil his master plan, he wanted to make sure everyone in the room could remain alive. And considering the daughter of Ra's al Ghoul would report his actions to the demon, he was in no rush to have his plots unraveled.

 

_The scene changed to the SCPD, where Oliver was hooked up to the polygraph. Laurel was seated beside him, while Quentin and the polygraph tech sat across the table._

_"Is your name Oliver Queen?" Quentin asked._

_"You don't know who I am, Detective?" Oliver joked._

_"The questions are to calibrate the polygraph. Is your name Oliver Queen?" Quentin demanded. "Yes."_

_"Were you born in Starling City May 16th, 1985?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Is your hair blue?"_

_"No."_

_"Have you ever been to Iron Heights prison?" Quentin asked, looking at Oliver._

_"No." Oliver replied calmly. Laurel looked over at him, surprise registering on her face for a moment before she schooled her expression._

“We went there for a field trip,” Laurel said confusion painting her features.

“Maybe he doesn’t remember.” Roy explained.

 

_Quentin pulled out the sketch of the Hood. "Are you the man in this picture?"_

_Oliver flashed back to his interrogation on the island by Fyers and Bill Wintergreen. "Where can I find the man in this picture?" Fyers demanded of Oliver, who was tied with his arms above his head to the support post in the middle of the tent. The masked man loomed menacingly behind him._

_Back in the present, Olive answered "No."_

“I mean that’s not really a picture,” Thea pointed out. “It’s a sketch.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Quentin said. “It’s the same idea.”

“Just saying, he technically told the truth on that one.”

 

_Quentin looked at the tech, who nodded, showing Oliver was telling the truth. Lance licked his teeth, then tried a different approach. "You steal 40 million dollars off Adam Hunt?" Quentin demanded._

_"No, I didn't." Oliver answered._

_"Were you marooned on an island called Lian Yu for 5 years?" Quentin asked. "Yes."_

_"How is that even relevant?" Laurel demanded, cutting in. Quentin glared at her._

_"I don't need to show relevance, but since you asked, whatever happened to your client on that island turned him into a cold blooded killer."_

“Really? I thought you were the one who was always saying to keep emotions out of this kind of stuff,” Laurel said frustrated.

“I don’t think I had this particular scenario in mind,” Quentin defended. Both of his daughters turned and glared at him at the same time. “Ok fine. I probably could be handling this better.”

                                               

_Oliver thought back to his torture on the island, of Wintergreen's sword cutting into his flesh as he screamed in pain._

_"The physician that examined you reported that is covered in scar tissue." Quentin stated coldly. Laurel glanced at Oliver in shock, then looked back to her father._

_"The machine won't work unless you ask a question." Laurel said._

_"Did that happen to you there?" Quentin asked bluntly._

_His mind still on the torture, nevertheless Oliver managed to answer calmly "Yes."_

_"When you came back, you told everyone that you were alone on that island." Quentin noted. "Are you claiming that your scars were self-inflicted?"_

_"No." Oliver admitted. "I wasn't alone. I didn't want to talk about what happened to me on the island." He said._

_"Why not?" Quentin asked._

_Oliver looked at the man steadily. "Because the people that were there tortured me." He admitted, to both Laurel and Quentin's shock._

The group stared at Oliver in shock. He was tortured within weeks of being on the island. They knew from his scars that it had to have happened at some point, but he was still the arrogant billionaire when this happened the first time.

“I… I can’t believe someone would do that to him,” Laurel whispered softly staring at the screen.

 

_"Have you killed anyone?" Quentin asked._

_Oliver paused for a long moment, before looking back up at Lance. "Yes." He admitted._

_Quentin's eyes flickered towards Laurel, satisfaction clearly evident in his eyes. He looked back at Oliver. "When I asked your daughter Sara to come on my father's yacht with me." The young man finished brokenly, the very tenuous grip on his control slipping briefly. "I killed your daughter." He admitted again. He tore the sensors off his body, ignoring the look of rage and pain on Quentin's face and the look of sadness on Laurel's as he stormed out of the room._

_After the door closed, the Tech looked at Quentin. "I'd have to study the data, but just eyeballing it, he's telling the truth." He stated. Quentin hummed noncommittally._             _"Can I assume that you'll be recommending Ms. Spencer to drop all charges against my client?" Laurel asked, rising from her seat. Quentin shook his head._

_"No." he said. "I know a guilty man when I see one. He is guilty, whether you can see it or not." Laurel glared at her father, and then stormed out of the room, leaving Quentin there with his thoughts._                             

 

Quentin sighed as he watched his onscreen self. He really was out of line. He could lose his job for this kind of behavior.

                       

_The scene cut to Queen Manor later that night, and Oliver's party was in full swing. Oliver himself came out, dressed in a faux prison jumpsuit, and hopped on top of the small stage that had been erected. He mimed to the DJ to cut off the music, which she did promptly._

_"Hi, everybody!" he yelled. The crowd yelled back in return. Quentin Lance looked up from the crowd in thinly veiled disgust. "I'm very touched that you came to celebrate with me before I am sent up the river! Closest neighbors are six miles away, so don't worry about the noise." He paused. "Actually, on second thought, let's wake those losers up!" The crowd roared and the DJ turned the music back on. Oliver jumped down and walked through the crowd, careful to stay on the pool deck lest Lance have a reason to arrest him (again). He walked over to Diggle._

_"If you think this is what prison is like, you are in for a rude awakening." He joked as the two headed back inside._

_Secured in Oliver's room, he showed Diggle his phone, which was tied into the GPS tracker. "Mueller's car has been parked in the warehouse district of the Glades for 45 minutes." Oliver stated._

“I still find it weird that he can change back into vigilante mode that quickly,” Tommy said watching his best friend.

 

_"Yeah, that's a good place for an arms deal." Digg noted. "Ok, since this is going down tonight, what do we do, drop a dime on Mueller with the cops?" he asked._

_"No, the man in the Hood." Oliver announced. "He's going to stop them."_

_"Oliver, you can't leave the house." Diggle argued._

_"It doesn't have to be me in the hood." He replied, giving Diggle a significant look. Diggle chuckled, more out of annoyance than amusement._

“It’s a brilliant plan, I’ll give him that,” Diggle stated. “But I have a feeling I’m not going to appreciate being lied to.”

“Most likely not,” Nyssa agreed.

_"That's why you threw this ridiculous party? So you have a hundred witnesses placing you here at the house while I'm supposed to be across town dressed as a vigilante?"_

_"I thought that it was going to be good enough just for you to be seen in the hood." Oliver explained. "I didn't count on Mueller showing up and I didn't count on the possibility that the Glades could be flooded with machine guns." At Diggle's glare, he softened his tone. "Look. I promise, it was never my intention to put you in harm's way." He said apologetically._                                     

_"Oliver, I didn't think joining your crusade was ever going to be risk-free." Diggle said after a moment. "I just don't like being played. Now you might have gotten used to lying to everyone else in your life, but I'm the one guy you don't lie to." He told him sternly. Oliver nodded in acceptance._                                            

_"You're right. I’m sorry." He said sincerely. They stared at one another, and then Diggle walked past him. "So am I going to jail?" Oliver asked, a little desperation creeping into his voice. Dig turned to him._                                                

_"No, man." He said. "I got to stop an arms deal."_

“Thank god,” Thea said letting out a sigh of relief.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated, where Walter was working late. His phone rang and he picked it up._

_"Hello?"_

_"Mr. Steele," the voice on the other end of the call said, "I'm sorry to bother you, sir. This is Mike Vogel down in security. I'm afraid I have some sad news for you. The company's head of security, Josiah Hudson, was in a car accident tonight. He's dead, sir." Walter stared at the phone in shock._

“Something fishy is going on here,” Tommy said.

“Yeah, that guy just happens to die in an accident after finding out about the gambit?” Laurel agreed. “It’s too coincidental.”

 

_Back at Queen Manor, Oliver was getting a drink at one of the bars set up in the foyer. He turned around to see Laurel walk in the door_

_"Hello." He said pleasantly. "Do we have a legal meeting or something? Because I have friends over."_

_Laurel looked around in bemusement. "Do you think maybe you can tear yourself away from this inappropriately themed rave for a couple minutes?" she asked wryly._

_Oliver led her up to his bedroom "Wow." She remarked upon seeing it. "I can't remember the last time that I've been in this room."_

_"I can." Oliver replied instantly. "Halloween, 2005.We were getting ready for Tommy's party." "Ah, Yes." She remembered, walking into the room. "I wore those horrible fishnets."_

Laurel blushed as she remembered that costume.

 

_"I thought you looked good." Oliver remarked, closing the door. They both smiled at the memory._                                             

_"Listen," Laurel began, turning to face him. "I just wanted to come by and apologize for my father's behavior today. During the polygraph."_

_"You don't have to apologize for him." Oliver said. "He has a right to feel any way that he wants."_

_"It wasn't just Sara, Ollie."_

_"What do you mean?" he asked. Laurel took a moment to gather her thoughts._

_"After Sara died, my father threw himself into his work. I think that's part of the reason I'm an attorney. He ran to the law and I followed. But my mother couldn't." she explained. "So she left him." She sighed. "Left us." She stepped closer to him. "Look, I'm not trying to tell you this to make you feel bad, or worse. I just--I really want you to understand him."_

_"Why don't you hate me?" Oliver asked plaintively. "You should."_

Laurel looked down sadly. Oliver had changed so much in the last five years, but he was still the same. He was good. She knew he felt guilty about everything that had happened. And with Sara alive, it was easier to move past that.

 

_"I did." Laurel agreed. "For so long, I did, Ollie. But after today, I realized that I was so focused on what happened to my family that I didn't even stop and wonder what could have happened to you." She exhaled loudly. "I didn't know about the torture, or your scars. What happened to you on that island was far more than you deserve. And I was wrong that I didn't ask you before, but I'm asking you now. I need to know .I need to see." she pleaded._

_"Are you sure?" he asked._

_"Yes." At her answer, he slowly undid the buttons on his shirt, but he couldn't bring himself to open it. Laurel did that, reaching up hesitantly and gently parting the shirt halves to reveal the scarred tissue underneath. She gasped softly. "How did you survive this?" she asked softly._                                                      

_"There were times when I wanted to die." Oliver said truthfully. "In the end there was something I wanted more." Slowly they came together, until finally they were kissing. It was at once both sweet and desperate; a fulfillment of a longing both had long ago resigned to the past._

Tommy felt a small sting of pain as he saw them kiss. He really liked Laurel, more than most of his other crushes or one night stands. He felt a connection to her. A spark. He could envision them together. Waking up making breakfast, living the domestic life-style. But this was a wake up call, it seemed like she and Oliver were still attracted to each other.

 

_Laurel was the one to finally break the kiss. "No." she gasped, backing away, shocked by her own actions. She practically ran past Oliver. Grabbing her purse from the ground as she opened the door._

_"Laurel, you don't have to go." Oliver said, pain and sadness creeping into his voice, but she was already gone._

Tommy felt guilty when a wave of hope and happiness washed over him. Maybe he and Laurel still had a chance.

Laurel meanwhile, felt similarly guilty. She’d been the one to initiate the kiss. So to pull away from it like that, it was like toying with his emotions. And she didn’t like to think of herself as that kind of girl.

 

_The scene flashed back to Lian Yu. Oliver as hanging by his wrests limply, blood oozing from several deep cuts inflected by Wintergreen._

_"Amazing." Fyers said. Oliver forced himself to open his eyes, glaring weakly at the man. "You have resolve I didn't credit you for."_

The group was horrified by Oliver’s condition. He looked as though he’d been through a grinder.

“Oh my god,” Thea said putting a hand to her mouth in shock. “Why did this have to happen to him?”

_"Or perhaps he truly doesn't know anything. We should put him out of his misery." He told his masked assistant. Wintergreen moved forward- Then suddenly Yao Fei was there. He took down one guard and Fyers, fired one arrow that severed the rope holding Oliver up, sending him crashing to the ground. Then he shot an arrow at Wintergreen- who caught is mere centimeters from his face. He snapped the arrowhead off with his thumb and drew his sword, and the two went back and forth furiously for several minutes. Yao Fei was able to use his bow to block the sword, and finally managed to get one good hit on the masked man's face. The Asian then pulled up Oliver and dragged him out of the tent._                     

 

“Oh thank god,” Laurel said in relief now that Oliver was out of that man’s reach.

                       

_The scene shifted to the present. Down at the docks, Mueller was showing off his merchandise to a couple of gang bangers._

_"It's an M249 machine gun." He described, taking the weapon in question from his assistant and showing it off. "Gas-powered, air-cooled, fires up to 800 rounds per minute." He tossed it to the gang leader, who whistled in appreciation. Suddenly, the lights went out. Mueller looked around in alarm. He grabbed the gun out of the teen's hands. "We need to move, now!" he shouted, just as The Hood came out of the shadows. He took out the three gangbangers with fists and feet, finally catching the third in a chokehold and holding him until the boy passed out. Mueller and his men sped off in a Mercedes, leaving the tuck and his merchandise behind. With three gang members on the ground, Diggle looked around, satisfied._

“Well done, Mr. Diggle,” Malcolm said. “Although you never fired any arrows.”

“No but if he was spotted that should be enough,” Laurel said a smile on her face. She knew she’d be able to win the case now.

 

_The scene changed to Queen Consolidated. Walter was sitting behind his desk, steeling himself for the conversation that was soon to come. He looked up as Moira walked into the office._                        

_"I'm not accustomed to being summoned to the office in the middle of the night." She began, putting her purse down on a chair, "Well, what was it that was so important that I had to race down here?"_       

_"I found the 'Queen's Gambit', Moira." Walter said. A look of panic and fear flitted across her face. "I know you secretly had the boat salvaged." He went on. "I wanted to move it to a more secure location before confronting you about it. In fact, I sent Josiah Hudson to the warehouse for precisely that purpose." He took a breath. "But he died mysteriously in a car accident." He looked at his wife. "I hope you now have a better understanding of why it is I've been so distant of late." He continued as she took a seat. "It's very disconcerting to discover that the person with whom you share your home, your bed and your heart has been lying to you so convincingly, and I would be a fool not to consider all the things that you have told me were lies."_

_"Walter, you're my husband, I-" she tried, but he cut her off._

_"Yes, I am." He said coldly._            

_"Walter, please." Moira stood. She looked pleadingly at her husband, "You've got to stop looking into this, it's not safe. You'll be--you'll be upsetting people, people with influence. You are very far out of your depth." She warned._

“What is she talking about?” Thea asked. “Why did she salvage that boat?”

“I don’t know,” Tommy said. “It doesn’t make sense.”

 

_Back at Queen Manor, Oliver was still holed up in his room when his phone rang. He answered it. "Man in the hood, one, gangbangers, zero." Diggle said._

_There was a knock at the door. "Hang on." He said to the phone, then put it to his chest. "Yeah?"_

_"Mr. Queen," outside the door, Malcolm Merlyn's bodyguard, dressed as a bartender, was quietly attaching a silencer to his pistol. "If you're entertaining guests upstairs, should I have some drinks sent up?" he called through the door._

“You are unbelievable!” Tommy shouted at his father. “You’re trying to kill my best friend!”

“I haven’t done anything like that yet, son,” Malcolm stated calmly not moving from his seat.

“You’re not even denying that you would do it. I can’t believe you’d just let Oliver get killed. Why? What is so important about this list that your willing to end someone’s life!?”

“Not now,” Nora interrupted before Malcolm could respond. “I promise you’ll find out. But you have to see how everything unravels or this whole plan could fail.”

Tommy was seething, but through grinded teeth he managed to say “fine.” before sitting down and allowing the memories to continue.

 

_"No." Oliver responded, getting up to rejoin the party. "It's just me up here and I'm on my way back down." Into his phone, he said quietly. "Good job. Now get back here." He went to open the door as he hung up his phone, and he was briefly startled by the bartender that was standing there. He was even more startled when the man brought his gun up. Acting on instinct, he grabbed the gunman's hand, forcing the gun away from his face, and punched him solidly on the jaw. He dragged the man into the room, quickly disarming him, but soon the man fought back. The two flew over the love seat and crashed through a coffee table, smashing it to bits. He tossed the killer across the room, inadvertently right to his gun. The man got up and was about to shoot Oliver when suddenly he was shot from behind by a charging Lance. The two men looked at one another in shock._          

 

“Oh thank god,” Laurel said relaxing slightly.

“That could’ve gone a lot worse,” Roy pointed out, causing everyone to shoot a dirty look at Malcolm.

 

_Later downstairs, Oliver and Thea were sitting on one of the couches in the sitting room, Oliver with an ice pack in hand. Tommy sat across from them in a chair. Lance was busy talking on his phone._   

_"Yeah." Lance grunted into the phone. "Yep." He hung up and looked over at Oliver._

_"How did you know I was in trouble?" Oliver asked curiously._

_"Because when the guy was fighting you, he broke the ankle monitor." Lance responded truthfully._

_Just then, Moira and Walter walked in briskly. "Are you all right?!" she asked her son, panicked. "I'm fine."_

_"Oliver..."_

_"Mom. I promise." He assured her. That fear aside, she whirled around and pointed an accusing finger at Lance. "This is on you." She practically snarled. "By accusing my son publicly, you've made him a target."_

_"Do you have any idea who attacked Oliver?" Walter demanded._

_"We haven't identified him." Lance admitted. "Though it must be someone with a grudge against the Hood, obviously." Lance moved towards Oliver and removed the ankle monitor._

_"What are you doing?" Oliver asked as he did it._

_"I got a call from my lieutenant. An arms dealer was attacked across town tonight." He paused, and then said reluctantly "By the vigilante. Multiple witnesses put him there." He turned to Moira. "In light of that, all charges against your son are being dropped."_

“His plan worked,” Thea said smiling. She was worried about her brother. She still wanted him to be a part of her life.

 

_"I'm truly sorry for what happened to your family, Quentin." She said softly, and then her voice hardened. "But would you kindly get the hell out of my house." It was a statement, not a question._

_"Mr. Lance," Oliver called out. "Thank you." He said sincerely._

_Lance nodded in reply, and then left._

_The scene changed to the next day. Moira entered Malcolm's office as he was preparing to leave._                               

_"Moira." He said pleasantly. "Did we have an appointment?"_

_"No, but I decided to screw propriety after you tried to have my son killed." Moira shot back._                              

 

“I’m glad my mom seems to have some sort of moral line,” Thea said darkly. She wasn’t really happy to see her mom involved in so many illegal things.

 

_Malcolm smiled slightly at the fire in her voice. "I'm sure you understand, I was justified in suspecting your son of being the vigilante targeting our associates." He explained calmly. "I had to take steps."_

_"And now that you know your steps were taken in error, that Oliver is not your enemy." She asked. Malcolm chuckled._

_"I offer my sincerest apologies."_

_Moira glared at him. "I know you found out that I had the yacht salvaged, just as I know you had Josiah Hudson killed." She said pointedly._

_"Well, accidents tend to befall people who are too curious." He replied, equally pointed._

_"I've been the good soldier." She shot back. "I've done everything you asked. But if any member of my family so much as gets a paper cut, I will burn your entire world to ashes." She threatened before turning and walking out of the room. Malcolm smiled as she left._                            

 

“At least she’d standing up for her family,” Sara said trying to pick out the positive. Although, she wasn’t able to do that very well. It wasn’t really a skill she worked on in the League of Assassins.

 

_The scene changed back to the Manor. As Oliver was picking through the wreckage in his room, he found the small leather pouch that contained his healing herbs. He sat back down on his bed and stared at the bag, remembering._                                                    

_Flashback to the island, where Yao Fei helps a struggling Oliver into the cave. He laid him down on the cot._                                                  

_"I tell you, island dangerous, but you not tell them where to find me." He said in admiration, "You stronger than I thought." He held out the leather pouch containing the herbs. "Take it." He said, and Oliver did so. "I lead them off, you stay." He moved to the cave' entrance. "Remember, breathe." He called back. "You breathe, you survive here longer."_                                   

_Oliver struggled to get to his feet. "No! I'm coming with you!" he called out, just as Yao Fei triggered a large rock to fall in front of the entrance, hiding it._

“Wait he’s trapped in there,” Tommy said slightly panicked. “How’s he going to survive?”

“I don’t know,” Diggle replied. “But this Yao Fei guy must have some sort of plan, otherwise he wouldn’t have left Oliver there.

 

_Back in the present, there was a knock on Oliver's door. It opened to reveal Laurel. "Rough party." He joked._

_"My father told me what happened." Laurel said. "Are you ok?"_

_"Yeah, I'm fine." He assured her._

_Laurel held up a white envelope. "These are your polygraph results." She said, stepping closer. "My father asked you if you'd ever been to Iron Heights." She continued. "It's the prison where the vigilante saved me last week. It's also where you and I went on our eighth grade field trip." She added. Oliver kept his face blank. "When you said that you had never been there, I thought maybe you were just nervous, or that you'd forgotten. But then I looked at your results, and there is a slight flutter in your answer to that question. And if you lied on one, you could have lied on others." She finished._

“I can’t believe how close he was to being caught with a polygraph,” Diggle said. “He was really good other than that one question.

 

_"What happened to me being too selfish to be a masked crusader?" he asked coldly._

_"Oliver! I saw your scars!" she exclaimed. Oliver looked away, and then moved to stand right in front of her. Though he didn't look at her; instead he kept his eyes on the ground._

_"Do you want to know why I don't talk about what happened to me there?" he asked. He finally looked right at her. "Because if people knew; if you knew... you'd see me differently. And not as some vigilante guy. As damaged." He sighed. "I don't sleep. I barely eat. I can barely sign my name, let alone aim a bow and arrow." He said emotionally, only partially lying._

“The best lies tell some version of the truth,” Nyssa said. “Your friend is more damaged than he lets on.”

“I hope when we get home we can help him,” Laurel replied. “He might be damaged, but he doesn’t have to go through that alone.”

 

_Laurel took a breath. "After last night clearly we're still attracted to one another." She said. "Oliver. Nothing can ever happen between us." She stated._

_"I know." He replied. She handed him the results, then turned and left._

“That seems a little cold,” Roy said turning to Laurel.

“I think that’s the right decision, baby,” Quentin refuted.

Laurel listened to them both, but was conflicted. She wasn’t sure what she wanted.

 

_The scene changed to the lair. Oliver was moving his munitions crate to the top of one of the work tables._

_"So you lied to her." Digg said, then added, "Or maybe you just gave her a version of the truth."_

_"I told her what she needed to hear, Diggle." Oliver argued. "She was too close."_

_"Sad thing is, I think you actually believe that." Digg countered. "I think things didn't go down exactly how you planned."_

_Diggle's voice continued as we see Thea, seated at her desk in her room, looking over an article about Oliver. She looked over, then picked up the Hōzen, studying it._

_"You didn't count on so many people having questions, doubting you. You didn't think about what happens when you lie. Especially when you lie to the ones you love the most."_

_Walter was in the Foyer, pulling a wheeled suitcase that he handed over to his driver. "Thank you, Chris." He said as Moira, clad in her pajamas, ran down the stairs. "Walter?" she called, stopping halfway down the stairs. "What is this?"_

_“Business trip." Walter announced. "I decided it's long overdue for me to inspect our holdings in Melbourne."_

_Moira read between the lines. "And how long will you be?" she asked, trying to reign in her emotions and failing._

_"I don't know." He said sadly, then walked out to his car._

_Diggle's voice continued. "When you were stuck on that island plotting your grand plan to save the city, I don't think you stopped to consider the effect it would have on the people in your life."_

_The scene cut to a bar, where a very drunk Lance sat slumped over the bar, chewing on a straw. Laurel came in, spotted her dad, and walked over to him. "Let's go." She announced, helping him to his feet. Lance grunted drunkenly. "You're ok. No, no, no." Laurel said as Lance reached for his drink, downing the last of it before he allowed her to guide him out of the bar._

Quentin looked down in shame. Maybe he needed to clean up his act. He wasn’t exactly setting a good example for anyone. Especially not his daughters.

 

_Back at the Lair, Diggle finished. "Or how it might hurt them."_

_"You're wrong." Oliver denied. "I think about it all the time. And just to be clear, not being able to tell my family the truth...it doesn't hurt anyone worse than it hurts me." He finished, opening the case and pulling out the hood._

_"Where are you going?" Diggle asked worriedly._

_"Mueller still has to sell those guns and I have to stop him." He said coldly. "Oliver--" Digg called out._

_"He had his chance."_

“Not one for taking breaks is he?” Roy asked. Dig shook his head.

“Seems like he was having a pretty emotional day. People with PTSD tend to withdraw or use some kind of coping mechanism for days like that. Seems like this vigilante work is his way of doing it,” he explained.

 

_The scene changed to another warehouse down by the docks. Mueller was pitching his deal to another gang._

_"28 crates, four guns in each crate, $250,000 cash. Take it or leave it. That's the deal." He said. Then suddenly, The Hood- the REAL Hood was on them. He managed to take out the guards and the gang in under a minute, disabling them all with arrows and stiff blows. He finished and drew the bow back once more, his eyes locked on to Mueller's._

_"Leo Mueller, you have failed this city." The Hood intoned, and then let loose an arrow, right into Mueller's heart._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what’d you guys think? I will try to update sometime in the next month, but it really depends on school and scheduling. (PS: The more comments and reviews I get, the more likely I am to update sooner.) I really love writing this story so I will definitely continue it. Until next time!

**Author's Note:**

> What'd you think. Any suggestions for future chapters? Let me know. I hope you enjoyed.


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